The Peer Context of Adolescent Substance Use: Findings from Social Network Analysis

TLDR

The study examined how peer network characteristics—embeddedness, status, and proximity to substance‑using peers—relate to adolescent substance use. Using a panel of 5,104 sixth‑ to eighth‑grade students from three public school systems followed every six months for five assessments, the authors applied social network analysis. Adolescents who were less embedded, had higher status, and were closer to substance‑using peers were more likely to use substances, and those in less dense networks or with higher smoking prevalence were more likely to smoke or use marijuana, underscoring the predictive value of network attributes.

Abstract

To examine the peer context of adolescent substance use, social network analysis was used to measure three domains of attributes of peer networks: social embeddedness, social status, and social proximity to substance users. The sample was a panel of 5,104 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in three public school systems surveyed every 6 months for five assessments. Hierarchical generalized linear models showed that adolescents less embedded in the network, with greater status, and with closer social proximity to peer substance users were more likely to use substances. Also, adolescents in less dense networks and networks with higher smoking prevalence were more likely to smoke and use marijuana. Results establish the utility of social network analysis for measuring peer context and indicate that conventionality of relationships—having friends in the network, being liked but not too well liked, and having fewer friends who use substances—is most beneficial.