title: Internet Use and Adolescent Binge Drinking: Findings from the Monitoring the Future Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relation between Internet use and binge drinking during early and middle adolescence.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study of a sub-sample of 8thand 10thgraders from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) study, which annually surveys a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth on their attitudes, behaviors, and values. This study includes data from 21,170 8thand 24,362 10thgraders who participated between 2007 and 2012 and were asked questions about Internet use and binge drinking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In fully adjusted models, we found a dose response relation between hours of recreational Internet use (i.e. outside work or school) and binge drinking which was stronger for 8ththan 10thgraders. Compared to <1 h of Internet use per week, odds ratios estimates for 1-5 h/week, 6-19 h/week, and 20 or more h/week were 1.24 (99% CI: 0.85, 1.82), 1.83 (1.28, 2.61), and 2.78 (1.99, 3.87) for 8thgraders, respectively. For 10thgraders, this same association was attenuated [estimated OR=1.06 (99% CI: 0.96, 1.16); 1.20 (1.03, 1.40); and 1.30 (1.07, 1.58), respectively].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Drawing on a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth, we find a significant, dose-response relation between Internet use and binge drinking. This relation was stronger in 8thgraders versus 10thgraders. Given that alcohol is the most abused substance among adolescents and binge drinking confers many health risks, longitudinal studies designed to examine the mediators of this relation are necessary to inform binge drinking prevention strategies, which may have greater impact if targeted at younger adolescents.
authors.affiliation: University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Group in Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
authors.forename: Sara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Kaja Z
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: LeWinn
keywords: Internet; adolescent; binge drinking; social networking