The Role of Peer Networks in Youth Drug Use

描述（由申请人提供）：同伴影响在青少年问题行为理论中起着核心作用，在许多研究中已被确定为大麻使用的关键关联，并且是大多数青少年毒品预防计划的主要焦点。然而，同龄人和物质使用研究的局限性阻碍了对同龄人关系作为青少年使用大麻的一个促成因素的作用得出强有力的结论。该项目将使用创新的社会网络方法，通过分析来自全国青少年健康纵向研究（Add Health）的纵向友谊网络数据来解决这些限制。Add Health是迄今为止对青少年友谊网络进行的最大的研究，也是唯一一个具有全国代表性样本的研究。超过90,000名青少年（7-12年级）完成了一份基线在校问卷。超过20,000名青少年完成了更详细的基线家庭访谈，超过14,000名青少年在12年的时间里参加了三次随访访谈。友情提名是在基线和一年后收集的，这为我们提供了一个难得的机会，将网络分析应用于同龄人对青少年大麻使用的影响和选择效应的检验。使用Add Health数据来检查大麻使用的社会背景具有明显的优势，包括：对青少年及其同龄人使用大麻的独立评估；样本：大量的、多样的、具有全国代表性的样本；纵向设计，保持良好；以及第一和第二阶段的高参与率，从而对以学校为基础的友谊网络进行全面评估。目的1：利用纵向友谊数据确定友谊网络影响大麻使用（影响效应）和大麻使用影响友谊选择（选择效应）的程度；并评估同伴影响对大麻使用的长期影响。标准群体识别方法（NEGOPY）和新颖的p*方法的比较将证明，后者考虑了这些同伴群体的组成部分（而不是极端的“最好的朋友”或整个友谊块），是否对与社会影响和选择相关的机制提供了一种不同的、更复杂的理解，并对干预方法产生了影响。目的2：调查不同类型的同伴影响（即，最好的朋友，浪漫的伴侣，亲密的朋友，普通的朋友，朋友的朋友，整个学校）如何同时和潜在地与大麻使用相关，并探讨这些关联是否受到关键网络结构特征（即，大小，密度）的调节。目标3：确定对不同类型的吸毒前同伴影响更有弹性和更脆弱的青少年（来自目标1和2），重点关注四个领域的特征：个人因素；学校因素;家庭因素;还有邻域因素。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Peer influence plays a central role in theories of adolescent problem behavior, has been identified as a key correlate of marijuana use across numerous studies, and is a primary focus of most adolescent drug prevention programs. However, limitations in the research on peers and substance use preclude drawing strong conclusions about the role of peer relationships as a contributing factor to youth marijuana use. This project will use innovative social network methods to address these limitations through the analysis of longitudinal friendship network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Add Health is the largest study of adolescent friendship networks ever conducted, as well as the only one with a nationally representative sample. Over 90,000 adolescents (Grades 7-12) completed a baseline in-school questionnaire. Over 20,000 of these adolescents completed a more detailed baseline in-home interview and more than 14,000 participated in three follow-up interviews over a 12-year period. Friendship nominations were collected at both baseline and one year later, providing us with a rare opportunity to apply network analysis to the examination of peer influence and selection effects on youth marijuana use. Using Add Health data to examine the social context of marijuana use has distinct advantages, including: independent assessments of marijuana use by adolescents and their peers; a large, diverse, and nationally representative sample; a longitudinal design with excellent retention; and high participation rates at Waves I and II, resulting in a thorough assessment of school-based friendship networks. This project will address the following aims: Aim 1: To determine the extent to which friendship networks influence marijuana use (influence effects) and marijuana use influences friendship selection (selection effects) using longitudinal friendship data; and to evaluate the long-term impact of peer influences on marijuana use over time. A comparison of the standard group identification method (NEGOPY) and the novel p* method will demonstrate whether the latter perspective, which considers the building blocks of these peer groups, (rather than the extremes of "best friend" or the entire friendship block), provides a different, more sophisticated understanding of the mechanisms associated with social influence and selection, with implications for intervention approaches. Aim 2: To investigate how different types of peer influence (i.e., best friend, romantic partner, close friends, casual friends, friends of friends, entire school) are concurrently and prospectively associated with marijuana use, and to explore whether these associations are moderated by key network structure characteristics (i.e., size, density). Aim 3: To identify adolescents who are more resilient versus vulnerable to different types of pro-drug use peer influences (from Aims 1 and 2), focusing on characteristics from four domains: personal factors; school factors; family factors; and neighborhood factors. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project will use longitudinal data from Add Health, the largest study of adolescent friendship networks ever conducted and the only one with a nationally representative sample, to examine peer influence and peer selection effects on youth marijuana use using multiple, complementary analytic approaches. The project will also investigate how different types of peer influence are associated with marijuana use over time, as well as identify youth who are more resilient versus vulnerable to different types of pro-drug peer influences.