Gender Differences in Friends’ Influences on Adolescent Drinking: A Genetic Epidemiological Study

Abstract

Gender and gender of friends moderate the associations between friends' behavior and adolescents' alcohol use, with evidence that girls, and those with opposite-sex friends, may be more susceptible to friends' influence. Genetically informative analyses suggest that similarity in alcohol use between adolescents and their friends is mediated, at least partially, through environmental pathways.