It found those who used such sites daily were five times more likely to smoke tobacco as those who did not, three times as likely to drink alcohol and twice as likely to use marijuana.
The poll of 12 to 17-year-olds Americans, conducted by Columbia University, found 70 per cent of those interviewed said they used social networking sites on a typical day, while 30 per cent did not.
One of the main reasons for going on such sits, besides actually communicating with friends, is to keep tabs on peers by looking at their photographs.
But the study found that pictures of teenagers "drunk, passed out, or using drugs on Facebook and other sites" were "rampant". However, parents seemed unaware that browsing such sites could increase their child's likelihood of abusing drink or drugs, with almost nine in 10 believing it did not have an effect on them.
Joseph Califano, founder of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, called on operators of Facebook and others to instigate tighter controls to block such photographs.
He said: "The time has come for those who operate and profit from social networking sites like Facebook to deploy their technological expertise to curb such images and to deny use of their sites to children and teens who post pictures of themselves and their friends drunk, passed out or using drugs.
"Continuing to provide the electronic vehicle for transmitting such images constitutes electronic child abuse." The survey also found that one in five teenagers claimed to have been bullied online.
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