title: Peer beliefs and smoking in adolescence: a longitudinal social network analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peer smoking is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent cigarette use, but less is known about whether other peer characteristics also contribute to this behavior.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the links between adolescent cigarette use and peer beliefs about smoking. It tested whether peer beliefs about smoking are associated with changes in cigarette use, whether this association is a result of changes in individual beliefs about smoking, and how beliefs inform friendship choices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses drew on data collected from 29 school-based networks, each measured at five occasions as students moved from 6th through 9th grade, as part of the study of the PROSPER partnership model. Longitudinal social network models provided estimates of friendship selection and behavior for an average of 6,200 students at each measurement point and more than 9,000 students overall.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Peer beliefs about smoking influenced cigarette use both directly and through their impact on individual beliefs. Respondents tended to name friends whose beliefs about smoking were similar to their own, and the likelihood of being named as a friend was higher for those who reported more positive beliefs about smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results from this study suggest that peer beliefs about smoking, in addition to peer cigarette use itself, are associated with adolescent smoking through several mechanisms. Because beliefs favorable to cigarette use are present before adolescents actually smoke, these results underscore the importance of implementing smoking prevention programs in early adolescence.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , University of New Mexico , Albuquerque , NM , USA.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ragan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010379:Peer Group; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Adolescent cigarette use; peer beliefs; smoking
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2001 Jul;29(1):22-30
references.pmid: 11429302
references.citation: J Health Econ. 2005 Sep;24(5):950-68
references.pmid: 15990184
references.citation: Am J Prev Med. 2007 May;32(5):395-402
references.pmid: 17478265
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2007 Dec;32(12):3054-9
references.pmid: 17509770
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2009 Nov;69(10):1506-14
references.pmid: 19775794
references.citation: Am J Prev Med. 2011 Apr;40(4):440-7
references.pmid: 21406278
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 2012 Jun;102(6):e12-8
references.pmid: 22515861
references.citation: Addiction. 2013 Mar;108(3):638-47
references.pmid: 22998615
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2012 Nov;51(5):497-502
references.pmid: 23084172
references.citation: Addict Behav. 1990;15(3):247-55
references.pmid: 2378284
references.citation: J Youth Adolesc. 1992 Jun;21(3):375-89
references.pmid: 24263849
references.citation: J Res Adolesc. 2013 Sep 1;23(3):null
references.pmid: 24307830
references.citation: Soc Forces. 2014;92(3):1061-1085
references.pmid: 24812438
references.citation: Criminology. 2014 Aug;52(3):488-513
references.pmid: 25382862
references.citation: Prev Sci. 2015 Aug;16(6):832-43
references.pmid: 25943034
references.citation: Youth Soc. 2018 May;50(4):462-484
references.pmid: 29628532