Abstract
Background. Documented trends in health-related risk behaviors among US adolescents have remained high over time. Studies indicate relationships among mutual friends are a major influence on adolescents’ risky behaviors. Social Network Analysis (SNA) can help understand friendship ties affecting individual adolescents’ engagement in these behaviors. Moreover, a systematic literature review can synthesize findings from a range of studies using SNA, as well as assess these studies’ methodological quality. Review findings also can help health educators and promoters develop more effective programs.Objective. This review systematically examined studies of the influence of friendship networks on adolescents’ risk behaviors, which utilized SNA and the Add Health data (a nationally representative sample).Methods. We employed the Matrix Method to synthesize and evaluate 15 published studies that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria, retrieved from the Add Health website and 3 major databases (Medline, Eric, and PsycINFO). Moreover, we assigned each study a methodological quality score (MQS).Results. In all studies, friendship networks among adolescents promoted their risky behaviors, including drinking alcohol, smoking, sexual intercourse, and marijuana use. The average MQS was 4.6, an indicator of methodological rigor (scale: 1–9).Conclusion. Better understanding of risky behaviors influenced by friends can be useful for health educators and promoters, as programs targeting friendships might be more effective. Additionally, the overall MQ of these reviewed studies was good, as average scores fell above the scale’s mid-point.
Highlights
The US Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) has captured trends in health-related risk behaviors among adolescents in grades 9 to 12 between 1991–2011 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012c)
More recently advanced analytical methodologies—including Social Network Analysis (SNA)—have led to the study of patterns in health risk behaviors influenced by peer or social contexts
All peer-reviewed journal articles housed in three additional electronic databases (Medline, Eric, and PsycINFO), and searched using variations of MeSH terms combined with Boolean operators
Summary
The US Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) has captured trends in health-related risk behaviors among adolescents in grades 9 to 12 between 1991–2011 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012c). The number of those who “ever had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day” showed a slight decrease from 72.5% to 70.8% during that time (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012a) Based on these data, we asked: “What may have shaped these trends over time?” In attempts to answer this question, researchers have indicated that risky health behaviors among adolescents are strongly influenced by their peers or friendship relationships (Hall & Valente, 2007; Prinstein, Brechwald & Cohen, 2011; Rew & Horner, 2003). National data, collected every two years by the YRBS and hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), report that risky behaviors including tobacco use, drinking alcohol, and sexual intercourse at a young age have been health concerns for US adolescents for more than 20 years. Adolescents used to drinking heavily are more likely to smoke regularly
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