Study Shows Social Networks Influence Drinking Habits
The people you hang around with can dictate your drinking habits, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. A recent Science Daily post showed that researchers used data from the Framingham Heart Study to define the patterns in social networks of other health issues, including obesity, smoking and sexually transmitted diseases. In conducting this analysis, researchers also set out to identify patterns of alcohol use.
“We’ve found that the influence of your friends and people you have connections with can affect your health just as much as your family history or your genetic background,” said Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, in Science Daily.
Christakis is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and lead author of the study. “With regard to alcohol consumption, your social network may have both positive and negative health consequences, depending on the circumstances.”
The study revealed that self-reported alcohol intake over time followed specific changes in the alcohol intake of the respondents’ social contacts. For instance, a person is 50 percent more likely to drink heavily if a person they are directly connected with also drinks heavily and 36 percent more likely to drink heavily if a friend drinks heavily.
The impact of a social network can extend as much as three degrees of separation. According to researchers, this social phenomena could have other implications for clinical and health interventions. Social networks could be used to exploit positive health behaviors and further support group interventions.
“Our findings reinforce the idea that drinking is a public health and clinical problem that involves groups of interconnected people who evidence shared behaviors,” said Christakis. “In treating individuals for problematic drinking, we need to look at their social networks to identify and eliminate obstacles to abstaining.”
