Do friendships change behaviors, or do behaviors change friendships? Examining paths of influence in young adolescents' alcohol use

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health 2000, Vol.26 (1), p.27-35
• Main Authors: Sieving, Renee E, Perry, Cheryl L, Williams, Carolyn L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alcohol Abuse; Alcohol consumption; Alcohol Drinking - prevention & control; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Attitude to Health; Biological and medical sciences; Chi-Square Distribution; Choice Behavior; Drinking Behavior; Drug Abuse; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Factors; Female; Health Behavior; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Influence; Interpersonal Relations; Latent variable structural equation modeling; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Minnesota; Models, Psychological; Peer Group; Peer Influence; Peers; Prevention; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reproducibility of Results; Time Factors; Young people
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00056-7

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.