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Extent of Peer Social Networks Influences Onset of Adolescent Alcohol Consumption


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According to new study published in Academic Pediatrics

New York, NY – Most parents recognize that the influence of peers on their children’s behavior is an undeniable fact. But, just how far do these influences reach? A study published in the September/October issue of Academic Pediatrics reports that adolescents are more likely to start drinking alcoholic beverages when they have large social networks of friends.

The findings suggest that, in addition to well-established demographic risk factors like age, race, and team sports, adolescents are at heightened risk of alcohol use onset because of their position in the social network in relationship to their friends and the friends of their friends, regardless of the drinking status of individuals within those networks. The study also found that closer proximity to more popular individuals was a factor in drinking initiation.

“In this study, adolescents in higher density school networks were more likely to initiate alcohol use,” according to Marlon P. Mundt, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison. “More dense networks exhibit more interconnected clusters that magnify the spread of influence. Notably, the results come to light in view of computer simulations showing that more dense networks amplify the dynamics of influence cascades.”

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative survey of 7th- through 11th-grade students enrolled between 1995 and 1996, the author analyzed the social linkages of 2610 students. Students were surveyed in school and in-home interviews of students and parents were conducted between April-December 1995 (wave 1) and again in April-August 1996 (wave 2). If students had not consumed alcohol outside their family group at wave 1 but had at wave 2, they were classified as an Alcohol Use Initiator.

To gauge the extent of social networks, students were asked to name up to 5 male and 5 female friends from their school roster. Social network analysis methodology was used to calculate 4 characteristics; (1) Indegree is the number of friendship nominations received by the respondent from the other study participants. (2) Centrality is the relative number of connections that an individual’s friends have within the adolescent social network. (3) 3-Step Reach is the degree to which a member of the peer social network can make contact with other members of the network through 3 steps of friendship connections. (4) Density, a school-level measure, is the number of ties in the total school peer social network divided by the number of possible network ties.

Two of the 3 friend social network characteristics (indegree, 3-step reach) increased the risk for the student to initiate alcohol use. For every additional friend with high indegree, the likelihood that an adolescent initiated alcohol use increased by 13%. For every additional 10 friends within 3-step reach of a nominated friend, risk of alcohol initiation by a nondrinker increased by 3%. Risk of alcohol use onset increased 34% for each additional friend who drank alcohol.

The findings suggest that potentially limiting the size of adolescent groupings may have a positive effect on delaying alcohol initiation. In this case, the study results argue for smaller schools, as they provide a smaller number of peers an adolescent can reach on their own or through their friends. Interestingly, a new generation of online social networks (Path, GroupMe, Rally Up, Shizzlr) focuses on limiting the size of the friendship group.

The study points to the important role that parents can play. Dr. Mundt observes that "parental modeling of responsible alcohol use and having fun together as a family offer protective benefit against adolescent alcohol initiation. The results are similar to previous research showing that low family bonding and parental drinking are linked to the onset of alcohol consumption.”

Finally the author proposes future research to explore how the density of virtual social communities (eg, Facebook), which connect a great number of adolescents online, can influence alcohol drinking among adolescents.

The article is “The Impact of Peer Social Networks on Adolescent Alcohol Use Initiation” by Marlon P. Mundt, PhD. It appears in Academic Pediatrics, Volume 11, Number 5 (September/October 2011), published by Elsevier.



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Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request. Contact Pat Hogan at +1 212 633 3944, p.hogan@elsevier.com, to obtain copies. To schedule interviews with the author please contact Mike Klawitter, Media Specialist, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, + 1 608 265 8199 or mklawitter@uwhealth.org.

About Academic Pediatrics
Academic Pediatrics, the official journal of the Academic Pediatric Association, is a peer-reviewed publication whose purpose is to strengthen the research and educational base of academic general pediatrics. The journal provides leadership in pediatric education, research, patient care, and advocacy. Content areas include pediatric education, emergency medicine, injury, abuse, behavioral pediatrics, holistic medicine, child health services, and health policy and the environment. The journal provides an active forum for the presentation of pediatric educational research in diverse settings, involving medical students, residents, fellows, and practicing professionals. The journal also emphasizes important research relating to the quality of child health care, health care policy, and the organization of child health services. It includes systematic reviews of primary care interventions and important methodology papers to aid research in child health and education.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier’s online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai’s Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).



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