Factors Contributing to Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Participation in Web-Based Challenges: Survey Study

BACKGROUND: Web-based challenges, phenomena that are familiar to adolescents and young adults who spend large amounts of time on social media, range from minimally harmful behaviors intended to support philanthropic endeavors to significantly harmful behaviors that may culminate in injury or death. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the beliefs that lead adolescents and young adults to participate in these activities by analyzing the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) ice bucket challenge, representing nonharmful behaviors associated with web-based challenges, and the cinnamon challenge, representing web-based challenges that lead to harmful behaviors. METHODS: A retrospective quantitative study was conducted with a total of 471 participants aged between 13 and 35 years who either had participated in the ALS ice bucket challenge or the cinnamon challenge, or had never participated in any web-based challenge. Binomial logistic regression models were used to classify those who participated in the ALS ice bucket challenge or cinnamon challenge versus those who did not engage in either challenge using the integrated behavioral model’s beliefs as predictors. RESULTS: The findings showed that participants of both the cinnamon challenge and the ALS ice bucket challenge had significantly greater expectations from the public to participate in the challenge they completed in comparison with individuals who never participated in any challenge (P=.01 for the cinnamon challenge and P=.003 for the ALS ice bucket challenge). Cinnamon challenge participants had greater value for the outcomes of the challenge (P<.001) and perceived positive public opinion about the challenge (P<.001), in comparison with individuals who never participated in any challenge. In contrast, ALS ice bucket challenge participants had significantly greater positive emotional responses than individuals who never participated in any challenge (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The constructs that contribute to the spread of web-based challenges vary based on the level of self-harm involved in the challenge and its purpose. Intervention efforts could be tailored to address the beliefs associated with different types of web-based challenges.