The Peer Context and the Development of the Perpetration of Adolescent Dating Violence

The peer context is a central focus in research on adolescent risk behaviors but few studies have investigated the role of the peer context in the perpetration of adolescent dating violence. This longitudinal study examined between-subjects and within-person contemporaneous and lagged effects of peer attributes, measured with social network analyses, on trajectories of dating violence perpetration and determined if effects varied by grade and/or sex of the adolescent. Data are from adolescents who participated in a five-wave panel study beginning when they were in 7 through 9th grade and ending when they were in 10 through 12th grade (n = 3,412); half were male, 40.5 % were white, 49.9 % were black and 10.4 % were of another race/ethnicity. Significant between-subjects effects indicate that adolescents who typically have friends who use dating violence, and girls who are typically high in social status, are at increased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Adolescents who typically have high quality friendships and girls who typically have friends with pro-social beliefs are at decreased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Significant within-person contemporaneous effects indicate that both boys and girls reported lower levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had more friends with pro-social beliefs, and reported higher levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had higher social status. None of the lagged effects were significant and none of the effects varied across grade. These findings suggest that the peer context plays an important role in the development of the perpetration of adolescent dating violence.     

The Settings of Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use

The current study examined the settings in which adolescents use alcohol and drugs, emphasizing sex and peer group differences in where substance use occurs, settings associated with more problematic substance use, and settings potentially serving as sites of initiation of adolescent substance use. Subjects were 449 juniors and seniors attending two Midwestern high schools (51% male; aged 16–19) who completed in-class surveys. Few sex differences in settings of substance use were found, although girls were more likely than boys to drink in family settings. More severe substance use was associated with a higher likelihood of drinking at school. Moreover, alcohol users were more likely to report drinking in their own homes and at their friends' homes than abstainers were to indicate selecting these settings to use alcohol if they were to do so. Drug users were more likely to report substance use outdoors, at their friends' homes, at social parties, and at school than were abstainers to indicate selecting these settings to use drugs if they were to do so. Implications of these findings for understanding the epidemiology of substance use and high-risk settings for the initiation and escalation of substance using behaviors are discussed.     

Depressive Symptomology as a Moderator of Friend Selection and Influence on Substance Use Involvement: Estimates from Grades 6 to 12 in Six Longitudinal School-Based Social Networks

Although the contributions of friend selection and friend influence to adolescent homophily on substance use behaviors has been of enduring research interest, moderators of these processes have received relatively little research attention. Identification of factors that dampen or amplify selection and influence on substance use behaviors is important for informing prevention efforts. Whereas prior research has examined adolescent drinking, smoking, and marijuana use, the current study examined whether friend selection and friend influence operated on substance use involvement, an indicator of problematic use, and whether depressive symptomology moderated these processes. In addition, it examined whether these relationships varied from grade 6 to 12. The study used a cohort-sequential design in which three cohorts of youth (first surveyed in grades, 6, 7, and 8) in six school-based longitudinal social networks were surveyed up to seven times, yielding N?=?6817 adolescents (49% female). Stochastic actor-oriented models were applied to test hypothesized relationships in the six networks, then results were synthesized in a meta-analysis. Depressive symptoms did not moderate selection or influence on substance use involvement at any grade level, but indirectly contributed to diffusion of substance use involvement through school networks via patterns of network ties. Research is needed on contextual factors, particularly in schools, that might account for when, if at all, depressive symptoms condition friend selection and influence on substance use.     

High School Drinker Typologies Predict Alcohol Involvement and Psychosocial Adjustment During Acclimation to College

This study examined differences among distinct types of high school drinkers on their alcohol involvement and psychosocial adjustment during the first semester of college. Participants were 147 college freshmen (66% female; 86% Caucasian) from a large Southeastern public university who reported on high school drinking and college stress, affect, drinking, and parenting. We used person-centered analyses to reveal relative stability in drinker typologies over the college transition and found some support for the lay-theory that restrictive parenting moderates this stability, with abstainers reacting against restrictive parenting in college through alcohol use. Finally, findings supported Block and Block's (1980) theory of ego-control and resilience such that high school experimenters showed better adaptation than abstainers and heavier users on indices of negative and positive affect. We discuss implications for a person-centered approach to the study of alcohol involvement during the college transition and the need to incorporate parenting constructs in college alcohol use research.Major interests are: Parenting and family processes related to adolescent substance use, and alcohol use across the college transition.Major interests are: Adolescent and young adult substance use and abuse.

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Differentiating Peer Contexts and Risk for Adolescent Substance Use

The peer context is perhaps the most salient, robust predictor of an adolescent's substance use. However, in previous studies, the peer context is often poorly defined. The current study examined 3 models to understand how substance use within best friendships, peer cliques, and social crowds predicts adolescents' substance involvement. A sample of 377 high school juniors and seniors completed surveys assessing substance use and peer relationships. Results suggest that each of these 3 dimensions of the peer context uniquely predict adolescent substance use. Moreover, these peer contexts interacted in the prediction of adolescents' substance use such that adolescents who were more highly embedded in substance-using peer contexts showed greater risk for substance use whereas adolescents with substance-using best friends showed a reduced risk for substance use if they had other close friends who were less involved with substances.