Peer and adolescent substance use among 6th-9th graders: latent growth analyses of influence versus selection mechanisms.
This study analyzed peer-influence versus peer-selection mechanisms in adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Participants were surveyed 3 times, with 1-year intervals, about peers' substance use and their own use; Sample 1 had 1,190 participants (initial mean age = 12.4 years), Sample 2 had 1,277 participants (initial mean age = 11.5 years). Latent growth analyses that were based on composite scores indicated that initial peer use was positively related to rate of change in adolescent use, supporting the influence mechanism; there was little evidence for a selection mechanism. Difficult temperament, poor self-control, and deviance-prone attitudes were related to initial levels for both peer and adolescent use. It is concluded that peer influence is the primary mechanism during middle adolescence. Temperament-related attributes may be predisposing to early experimentation and deviant-peer affiliations.
Wills
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Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. wills@aecom.yu.edu
Cleary
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D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007837:Latency Period, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012925:Social Conformity; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology