NCJ Number
183250
Journal
Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2000 Pages: 21-37
Date Published
February 2000
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This British study applied social network analysis at the first two time points of a longitudinal study that examined how smoking tobacco and drug use in adolescence is associated with social position within peer group structures.
Abstract
A total of 150 secondary second grade students in one school named up to six "best friends." This allowed for the categorization of each adolescent as a group member, a group peripheral, or a relatively isolated individual. The study found that risk-taking behavior occurred across all social positions. At both time points of the study, the behavior of pupils on the periphery of peer groups reflected both the gender and the behavior of the groups themselves. At the second time point of the study there were far more pupils on the periphery of risk-taking groups than on the periphery of non-risk-taking groups. The relationship apparently verifies that risk-taking and non-risk-taking behavior is learned predominantly in the context of peer clusters, and that risk-taking peer clusters act as a greater focus of influence and selection of peripheral pupils at a key stage in their development than do non-risk-taking peer clusters. These findings are relevant in the debate about peer pressure in relation to smoking and drug use. 3 figures, 1 table, 25 references, and appended study instruments