Although substance use has
traditionally been linked to peer deviance, a parallel literature has explored
the influence of peer social status (being "well-liked"). This
literature hypothesizes that adolescents with higher status will anticipate
shifts in social norms and modify their behavior earlier and/or more
substantially than lower-status students.
As substance use becomes more
socially acceptable during early-to-mid-adolescence, higher status youth are
hypothesized to reflect this shift in norms by accelerating their use more
rapidly than lower status youth. Although some evidence exists to support this
hypothesis, it has never been evaluated in conjunction with the opposing
hypothesis (i.e., that substance use contributes to elevated peer status).
In
this study, we evaluated reciprocal links between peer status and substance use
(i.e., alcohol and tobacco) using 3 years of data from 8 middle schools in the
Pacific Northwest. Social network analysis enabled us to model standard network
effects along with unique effects for the influence of the network on behavior
(i.e., increased substance use as a result of being well-liked) and the
influence of behavior on the network (i.e., increased status as a result of
substance use).
Our results indicated significant bidirectional effects for
alcohol use but no significant effects for tobacco use. In other words, being
well-liked significantly predicted alcohol use and vice versa, but these
processes were not significant for tobacco use.
Prevention efforts should
consider the dynamics of peer status and peer norms in adolescence with the
goal of preventing escalations in problem behavior that can compromise future
adjustment.
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By:
- 1Oregon Research Institute, 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Electronic address: markv@ori.org.
- 2Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871104, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104, USA.
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