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Do friendships change behaviors, or do behaviors change friendships? Examining paths of influence in young adolescents' alcohol use.
J Adolesc Health. 2000 Jan; 26(1):27-35.JA

Abstract

PURPOSE

This study examined support for models of peer influence, which postulates that young adolescents whose friends use alcohol will also engage in that behavior, and of peer selection, whereby young adolescents seek out friends whose drinking behavior is similar to their own.

METHODS

Data for this study are from 1804 adolescents participating in Project Northland, a school- and community-based alcohol use prevention trial. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, a series of models examined directions of influence between participant alcohol use and friend drug use over three points in Grades 7, 8, and 9.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that higher levels of friends' drug use led to increased participant alcohol use. The reverse-order relationship (i.e., greater participant involvement in alcohol leading to more drug use among friends) was not supported by these data. Finally, best-fitting models supported the notion that both participants' alcohol use and the alcohol and other drug use of friends were highly stable over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Similarity in drinking behavior among adolescent friends may be more related to processes of peer influence than to processes of peer selection. Findings support the utility of alcohol use prevention programs that equip younger teens with skills to resist peer influences to use alcohol.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors+Show Affiliations

Sieving RE
Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, USA.
Perry CL
No affiliation info available
Williams CL
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdolescent BehaviorAlcohol DrinkingAttitude to HealthChi-Square DistributionChoice BehaviorFactor Analysis, StatisticalFemaleHealth BehaviorHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansInterpersonal RelationsLongitudinal StudiesMaleMinnesotaModels, PsychologicalPeer GroupPsychology, AdolescentReproducibility of ResultsTime Factors

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

10638715

Citation

Sieving, R E., et al. "Do Friendships Change Behaviors, or Do Behaviors Change Friendships? Examining Paths of Influence in Young Adolescents' Alcohol Use." The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, vol. 26, no. 1, 2000, pp. 27-35.
Sieving RE, Perry CL, Williams CL. Do friendships change behaviors, or do behaviors change friendships? Examining paths of influence in young adolescents' alcohol use. J Adolesc Health. 2000;26(1):27-35.
Sieving, R. E., Perry, C. L., & Williams, C. L. (2000). Do friendships change behaviors, or do behaviors change friendships? Examining paths of influence in young adolescents' alcohol use. The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 26(1), 27-35.
Sieving RE, Perry CL, Williams CL. Do Friendships Change Behaviors, or Do Behaviors Change Friendships? Examining Paths of Influence in Young Adolescents' Alcohol Use. J Adolesc Health. 2000;26(1):27-35. PubMed PMID: 10638715.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Do friendships change behaviors, or do behaviors change friendships? Examining paths of influence in young adolescents' alcohol use. AU - Sieving,R E, AU - Perry,C L, AU - Williams,C L, PY - 2000/1/19/pubmed PY - 2000/1/19/medline PY - 2000/1/19/entrez SP - 27 EP - 35 JF - The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine JO - J Adolesc Health VL - 26 IS - 1 N2 - PURPOSE: This study examined support for models of peer influence, which postulates that young adolescents whose friends use alcohol will also engage in that behavior, and of peer selection, whereby young adolescents seek out friends whose drinking behavior is similar to their own. METHODS: Data for this study are from 1804 adolescents participating in Project Northland, a school- and community-based alcohol use prevention trial. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, a series of models examined directions of influence between participant alcohol use and friend drug use over three points in Grades 7, 8, and 9. RESULTS: Findings indicated that higher levels of friends' drug use led to increased participant alcohol use. The reverse-order relationship (i.e., greater participant involvement in alcohol leading to more drug use among friends) was not supported by these data. Finally, best-fitting models supported the notion that both participants' alcohol use and the alcohol and other drug use of friends were highly stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: Similarity in drinking behavior among adolescent friends may be more related to processes of peer influence than to processes of peer selection. Findings support the utility of alcohol use prevention programs that equip younger teens with skills to resist peer influences to use alcohol. SN - 1054-139X UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/10638715/Do_friendships_change_behaviors_or_do_behaviors_change_friendships_Examining_paths_of_influence_in_young_adolescents'_alcohol_use_ L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1054-139X(99)00056-7 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -