Year: 2025

  • Kaňková, J., Vranken, S., & Matthes, J. (2025, June). A double-edged sword: Exploring associations between engagement with mental health content by social media influencers and psychological well-being. Presentation to the Information Systems Division at the 75th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), June 12-16, Denver, CO, USA.
  • Vranken, S., Geusens, F., Greene, K., & Beullens, K. (2025, June). Changing adolescents' cigarette and e-cigarette cognitions via a media literacy-based active involvement intervention: A quasi-experimental study. Presentation to the Health Communication Division at the 75th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), June 12-16, Denver, CO, USA.
  • Vranken, S., Geusens, F., Christiaens, C., Greene, K., & Beullens, K. (2025, June). "Don't vape, nobody uses these poisonous sticks": A content analysis of adolescents' self-developed anti-smoking campaigns. Presentation to the Children, Adolescents and Media Division at the 75th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), June 12-16, Denver, CO, USA.
  • Vranken, S. (2025, February). Bridging science and society: Writing for societal impact. Invited talk for the Young Scholar Network at the Etmaal 2025 Conference, February 3-4, Bruges, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., Tallving, O., Matthes, J., & Beullens, K. (2025, February). "TikTok on the clock, but the risks don't shock": A content analysis of vaping on TikTok. Presentation at the Etmaal 2025 Conference, February 3-4, Bruges, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2025, January). Pitching your research to different audiences. Invited lecture in the Scientific Skills Lecture, University of Vienna, January 7, 2025, Vienna, Austria.


Year: 2024

  • Vranken, S. (2024, November). Social media and Well-being. Invited talk in the Media and Digital Society Lecture at the University of Antwerp, November 20, Antwerp, Belgium. 
  • Matthes, J., & Vranken, S. (2024, November). The end of experimentation as we know it? How AI affects experimental research. Invited presentation at the International Research Workshop on Reshaping Communication: AI, Media, and Change, November 12, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
  • Vranken, S. (2024, October). Media literacy: A practical application through the #Smokefree intervention. InvitedlLecture for the Master Class Evidence-Based Health Communication at KU Leuven, October 15, Leuven, Belgium. 
  • Vranken, S., Beullens, K., & Geusens, F. (2024, September). Introducing a school-based active involvement intervention integrating media to diminish adolescents' smoking and vaping behaviors. Presentation for the Health Communication Division at the 10th European Communication Conference (ECREA), Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 24-27, 2024.
  • Vranken, S., Binder, A., & Matthes, J. (2024, August). Do health warnings for E-cigarettes work on Instagram? Experimental effects on adults' E-cigarette cognitions. Presentation to the Communication Theory and Methodology Division at the AEJMC Annual Convention, August 8-11, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
  • Vranken, S. (2024, May). Is social media a poisoned gift? Invited workshop at Secondary School Provinciale School Diepenbeek, May 13-17, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2024, April). Are social media a poisoned gift for the well-being of children and young people? Invitation for a scientific debate for the Think & Talk Honours Program at Ghent University, April 17, Ghent, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2024, March). #Smokefree: An innovative active involvement approach to reduce adolescents' smoking and vaping behaviors. Invited talk during the Postdoc Day at KU Leuven, March 21, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., Beullens, K., & Geusens, F. (2024, February). An active involvement intervention incorporating media to reduce youth's smoking behavior: A study protocol. Presentation for the Health Communication Division at the Etmaal 2024 Conference, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, February 8-9, 2024.


Year: 2023

  • Vranken, S. (2023, December). Health interventions among youth: The #Smokefree intervention to reduce smoking and vaping among youth. Guest lecture in the Children and Media Theory, Research, and Applications Course at KU Leuven, December 10, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2023, November). Health-related media effects. Invited guest lecture in the Media Effects Course at KU Leuven, November 8, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2023, October). The social cognitive theory. Invited guest lecture in the Media Effects course at KU Leuven, October 19, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., Beullens, K., & Geusens, F. (2023, September). #Instadrink or #Instadrunk? An experimental study investigating the impact of moderate and extreme alcohol posts in ephemeral social media messages on offline alcohol cognitions. Presentation at the Conference of the Media Psychology Division, September 6-8, Luxembourg.
  • Matthes, J., Binder, A., Vranken, S., Heiss, R., & Kankova, J. (2023, May). Should they really see this? The depiction of alcohol in movies and series targeted at children. Presentation to the Health Communication Division at the 73rd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 25-29, Toronto, Canada.
  • Vranken, S., Kurten, S., Beullens, K. (2023, May). #InstaDrinks: A content analytical study exploring the prevalence and nature of alcohol references from social media influencers in Instagram's feed messages and stories. Presentation to the Mass Communication Division at the 73rd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 25-29, Toronto, Canada.
  • Vranken, S., Matthes, J., Fitzgerald, K., & Beullens, K. (2023, May). Unraveling adolescents' attention to alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Instagram stories: An eye-tracking approach. Presentation to the Information Systems Division at the 73rd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 25-29, Toronto, Canada.
  • Vranken, S. (2023, March). Capturing an attentional bias in social and mass media content: an introduction to eye-tracking. Invited guest lecture in the Media and Innovation Course at KU Leuven, March 1, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., Matthes, J., Fitzgerald, K., & Beullens, K. (2023, February). Does alcohol in Instagram stories grab adolescents' attention? An eye-tracking study examining attention toward alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Instagram stories. Presentation at the Etmaal 2023 Conference, February 2-3, Enschede, The Netherlands.


Year: 2022

  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2022, September). "Sharing drunk experiences on social media is a typical male thing": A qualitative study assessing gender double standards in adolescents' alcohol-related self-presentations on social media. Presentation at the Early Career Alcohol Research Symposium, September 14-15.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2022, September). #AlcoholO'Clock: de rol van verschillende sociale mediaplatformen in het alcoholgebruik van jongeren [the role of different social media platforms in adolescents' alcohol use]. Presentation at the 1st Flemish Congres for Mental Health Among Children And Youth, September 13-14, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., Binder, A., Mederle, S., & Matthes, J. (2022, August). Revisiting the alcohol attentional bias: An eye-tracking study on alcohol depiction modality in narrative audiovisual stories. Presentation to the Communication Theory & Methodology Division at the AEJMC Annual Convention, August 3-6, Detroit, USA.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2022, June). Look more, drink more? Using eye-tracking and experimental methods to explore the processing and impact of exposure to alcohol-related social media references. Presentation at the 9th International meeting of the FWO Research Community, June 1-3, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2022, May). "Boys grab your beer, it is time to get drunk": Assessing gender norms and identities in alcohol references across social media message types. Presentation to the Mass Communication Division at the (hybrid) 72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 26-30, Paris, France.
  • Vranken, S., Beullens K., Geyskens, D., & Matthes, J. (2022, May). #Alcoholfluencers: Exploring adolescents' perceptions and evaluations of alcohol-related Instagram references from influencers. Presentation to the Children, Adolescents, and Media Division at the (hybrid) 72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 26-30, Paris, France.
  • Vranken, I, Fedele, M., Ashepet, M.G., Goel, N., & Vranken, S. (2022, May). Introducing the Open Science IdeaLab. Presentation at the KU Leuven Open Science Day, Leuven, Belgium, May 9.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2022, April). Does alcohol on Instagram catch adolescents' eyes? An eye-tracking study exploring adolescents' visual attention toward different types of alcohol references on Instagram. Presentation at the Netherlands-Flanders Working Group Interpersonal Health Communication, April 12, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
  • Vranken, S., Geyskens, D., & Beullens, K. (2022, February). "Drinkfluencers are not always realistic": Investigating how adolescents perceive and evaluate alcohol-related Instagram references from influencers. Presentation at the (virtual) Media Psychology Division at the Etmaal Conference, February 10-11.


Year: 2021

  • Vranken, S. (2021, November). Let's share our drinks! Applying the prototype willingness model to self-sharing of alcohol-related social media references. Presentation at the (virtual) European Conference on Health Communication (ECHC), November 4-5.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2021, November). #Drinkstagram? An experimental study disentangling the impact of different types of alcohol-related Instagram posts on alcohol cognitions. Presentation at the (virtual) European Conference on Health Communication, November 4-5.
  • Vranken, S., & Kurten, S. (2021, August). A content analysis of alcohol posts from adolescents, brands, influencers, and celebrities in Facebook and Instagram’s persistent and ephemeral messages. Presentation to the Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk (SHER) Division at the (virtual) AEJMC Annual Convention, August 4-7.
  • Vranken, S., Kurten, S. & Beullens, K. (2021, February). "Wijnen, wijnen, wijnen": A systematic content analysis of alcohol posts from celebrities, influencers, brands and adolescents in Facebook and Instagram's persistent and ephemeral social media messages. Presentation to the Media Psychology Division at the (virtual) Etmaal Conference, February 4-5.


Year: 2020

  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2020, November). To drink or not to drink? Exploring whether alcohol-related social media effects depend on different socializing agents and different message types across platforms. Presentation at the Netherlands-Flanders Working Group Interpersonal Health Communication, November 23, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Beullens, K., Vanherle, R., & Vranken, S. (2020, May). The role of proximal friends and distant peers in the association between exposure to alcohol across different social media message types and adolescents' alcohol consumption. Presentation at the (virtual) 70th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 20-26.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2020, May). Unraveling alcohol-related social media effects: Exploring the association between different message types and binge drinking. Presentation to the Children, Adolescents, and Media division at the (virtual) 70th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May 20-26.
  • Vranken, S. (2020, March). Social media and adolescents' wellbeing. Invited talk on the Day of Addiction of The Secondary School 'Mater Dei', March 12, Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S. (2020, March). How to conduct eye-tracking research: Tips and tricks. Workshop provided at the School for Mass Communication Research at KU Leuven, March 2, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2020, February). Grasping alcohol-related social media effects in an evolving media landscape: Exploring the relation between different alcohol portrayals across different message types and binge drinking. Presentation for the Media Psychology Division at the Etmaal Conference, February 6-7, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.


Year: 2019

  • Vranken, S. (2019, May). Elucidating platform heterogeneity: Investigating moderate and extreme attitudes and norms as underlying processes of alcohol-related social media effects. Presentation at the Netherlands-Flanders Working Group Interpersonal Health Communication, May 16, 20219, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Vranken, S., & Beullens, K. (2019, February). Exploring how Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp are uniquely associated with alcohol use among emerging adults. Presentation for the Media Psychology Division at the Etmaal Conference, February 6-7, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.