Peer Influence Effects Research Articles

The protective effects of good parenting on adolescents

To explore recent developments in the literature regarding parenting practices and adolescent development, with a focus on parenting style, parental monitoring, communication, and supervision. There have been significant recent advances in the study of the relationship between parenting and adolescent development. Several recent intervention studies with a parenting component demonstrated immediate and long-term protective effects on adolescent risk behavior. Parent-child connectedness and authoritative parenting style are protective for teens. Parental monitoring has a protective effect on many adolescent risk behaviors in both middle-class populations and poor urban environments and has been shown both to moderate the effect of peer influence and to persist into late adolescence. Whereas unsupervised time, exposure to sexual possibility situations, and out-of-home care increase sexual behavior, improved parent-child communication reduces sexual risk behaviors. Recent scholarship demonstrates the significant, enduring, and protective influence of positive parenting practices on adolescent development. In particular, parental monitoring, open parent-child communication, supervision, and high quality of the parent-child relationship deter involvement in high-risk behavior. Authoritative parenting generally leads to the best outcomes for teens. Clinicians should find opportunities to discuss evidence-based parenting practices with families. Future research should focus on the development and long-term evaluation of effective parenting interventions.

Perfectionism, low self-esteem, and family factors as predictors of bulimic behavior

A previous study found that self-reported body dissatisfaction, depression, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape were significant predictors of bulimic behavior in college women, but that family functioning was not a significant predictor [ Eat. Behav. 2 (2001) 323]. The current study examined whether perfectionism, low self-esteem, and a more specific family variable—perceived pressure from the family to be thin—predicted any additional variance in eating-disordered behavior after significant variables from the previous study had been taken into account. As in the previous study, self-reported body dissatisfaction, depression, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape were significant predictors of bulimic behavior. Perceived weight-related pressure from the family was also a significant predictor. In contrast, high parental expectations were found to predict lower levels of bulimic behavior and to moderate the effects of peer influence on bulimic behavior. The variables found in this study to be related to bulimic behavior may be useful targets for clinical intervention for women with disturbed eating patterns.

The Effects of Parent Religiosity, Family Processes, and Peer Influences on Adolescent Outcomes by Race/Ethnicity

Abstract This study examined the effects of parent religiosity, family processes, and peer influences on a nationally representative sample of adolescents stratified by ethnicity/race in light of social control and social learning theories (N = 1,911). Findings revealed the differential impact of parent religiosity, family processes, and peer influences on delinquency, substance abuse, physical and mental health, and educational attainment of adolescents stratified by ethnicity/race. On the whole, findings providedevidence of conditions under which social control vs. social learning theories might be better guides to therapeutic interventions that incorporate religious components, while they also highlighted limitations or boundaries of related practices.

Perfectionism, low self-esteem, and family factors as predictors of bulimic behavior

A previous study found that self-reported body dissatisfaction, depression, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape were significant predictors of bulimic behavior in college women, but that family functioning was not a significant predictor [Eat. Behav. 2 (2001) 323]. The current study examined whether perfectionism, low self-esteem, and a more specific family variable—perceived pressure from the family to be thin—predicted any additional variance in eating-disordered behavior after significant variables from the previous study had been taken into account. As in the previous study, self-reported body dissatisfaction, depression, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape were significant predictors of bulimic behavior. Perceived weight-related pressure from the family was also a significant predictor. In contrast, high parental expectations were found to predict lower levels of bulimic behavior and to moderate the effects of peer influence on bulimic behavior. The variables found in this study to be related to bulimic behavior may be useful targets for clinical intervention for women with disturbed eating patterns.

Multiple-Precursor Scenarios

The objectives of this research were to identify an extensive set of precursors (risk and prevention) to interpersonal violence on campus and to develop a measure to predict patterns of violence potential on campus with greater specificity. The method involved a study of 451 college students on two campuses and tested the predictive capabilities of the Violence Risk Assessment measure. The results showed that specific situational and gender patterns of violence exist, as well as significant effects of alcohol consumption and peer influence. Implications of results for prevention of violence and directions for further research are discussed.

Sensation-Seeking as a Moderator of the Effects of Peer Influences, Consistency with Personal Aspirations, and Perceived Harm on Marijuana and Cigarette Use Among Younger Adolescents

Concurrent effects of peer influence and protective cognitive variables on marijuana and cigarette use are hypothesized to be contingent on adolescent sensation-seeking. The hypothesis was tested in 1999–2000 using a survey given to eighth graders (N = 3127) in 20 U.S. middle schools. Results largely supported the hypothesis that peer pressure and perceived peer marijuana use had only a relatively trivial effect on low sensation-seekers and a much greater effect on high sensation-seekers. In addition, aspirations inconsistent with marijuana use appeared protective for high sensation-seekers.

Participation in Advanced Mathematics: Do Expectation and Influence of Students, Peers, Teachers, and Parents Matter?

Using six waves of data (Grades 7 through 12) from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), this study investigated the effects of expectation and influence of students, peers, teachers, and parents on participation in advanced mathematics. Results of survival analysis indicated a significant decline in participation rate in the transition from Grades 11 to 12. Students with higher future expectation were more likely to participate in advanced mathematics. Peer influence and teacher expectation did not have strong effects, and the effect of student future expectation was independent of peer and teacher effects. The effect of parent expectation and parent college plan for children were strong, and in their presence, the effect of student future expectation declined. Mathematics achievement and attitude toward mathematics were the most important factors affecting participation in advanced mathematics. With control over achievement and attitude, (a) the effect of student future expectation declined, (b) the effects of peer influence and teacher expectation disappeared, and (c) the effects of parent expectation and parent college plan for children were reduced.

Smoking acquisition: peer influence and self-selection.

The study examined and contrasted the extent that peer influence and self-selection for smoking peers may affect acquisition of smoking by adolescents. Data for a U.S. national cohort sample of adolescents (N = 4,444) who were nonsmokers in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Surveys and were re-interviewed in 1993 were included. The information included measures of smoking behavior and smoking status of both boys' and girls' best friends. Analysis demonstrated that, although the effects of both peer influence and self-selection of smoking friends occurred, self-selection may play a greater role in adolescents' beginning to smoke. This implies that, while teaching adolescents to resist peer pressure may be necessary, it is perhaps more important to identify factors that influence adolescents' decisions in choosing friends who smoke. This could lead to more effective preventive strategies.

Smoking Acquisition: Peer Influence and Self-Selection

The study examined and contrasted the extent that peer influence and self-selection for smoking peers may affect acquisition of smoking by adolescents. Data for a U.S. national cohort sample of adolescents ( N = 4,444) who were nonsmokers in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Surveys and were re-interviewed in 1993 were included. The information included measures of smoking behavior and smoking status of both boys’ and girls’ best friends. Analysis demonstrated that, although the effects of both peer influence and self-selection of smoking friends occurred, self-selection may play a greater role in adolescents’ beginning to smoke. This implies that, while teaching adolescents to resist peer pressure may be necessary, it is perhaps more important to identify factors that influence adolescents’ decisions in choosing friends who smoke. This could lead to more effective preventive strategies.

Ethnicity, gender and risk factors for smoking initiation: an overview.

Although the prevalence of cigarette smoking has increased dramatically among youth over the past several years, there are significant ethnic and gender differences in prevalence rates. This paper presents highlights of the research literature on ethnic and gender differences in risk factors for smoking. The effects of peer and family influences may vary by both ethnicity and gender. White youth, especially females, may be more susceptible to the negative influence of friends' smoking than are African-American youth. Although the evidence about the relative importance of parent smoking among ethnic groups is contradictory, recent data suggest that African-American parents provide stronger anti-smoking messages than do white parents. The subgroups also vary in their perceptions of the negative consequences of smoking, with Asian-American and African-American females perceiving stronger negative consequences. Cultural expectations may place white females at increased risk for smoking. The link between depressed mood and smoking also varies by subgroup. Finally, popular media figures may influence the appeal of smoking and be differentially relevant to youth subgroups. We need: (1) specific examinations of ethnic and gender effects with attention paid to identifying protective factors among certain ethnic/gender subgroups; (2) to know more about how family influences may vary by the ethnic/gender subgroups and over the developmental course of smoking; (3) to know more about how youth cope with negative moods and the role of smoking in coping; and (4) to investigate whether the factors that protect youth in some subgroups can be diffused to others.

Adolescent Friendship Selection and Termination: The Role of Similarity

We examined friendship selection and termination on a wide variety of variables using longitudinal data from 1183, 6th, 8th and 10th graders in two school systems. To control for the effects of peer influence on similarity, adolescents were matched at Time 1 with the persons they would become friends with by Time 2. Adolescents were significantly similar to Time 1 about-to-be friends on minor delinquency and cigarette and alcohol use, the number of reciprocated friendships and activities suggesting that friendship selection was based on these variables. The similarity seen on covert variables such as values and personality could be accounted for by selection on problem behaviors. Adolescents were as similar to stable friends as to about-to-be friends, suggesting that selection plays a stronger role in similarity than influence. Termination was related to fewer variables than was selection.

The Influence of Parental Support, Depressed Affect, and Peers on the Sexual Behaviors of Adolescent Girls

Using logitudinal data from self-reports and observer ratings of family interaction regarding 76 adolescent girls and their parents, this research investigated the effects of parental warmth and supportiveness on adolescents' depressed affect, attitudes about sexuality, peer influence, and sexual experience. The results indicated that girls with more emotionally distant parents were more likely to manifest symptoms of depression. Depressed affect, in turn, was associated with sexually permissive attitudes and having sexually active friends. Although there was a weak direct effect of Time 1 depressed affect on Time 2 sexual experience, the predominant influence on adolescent girls' sexual activity at Year 2 was their perception that their friends were sexually active during the previous year. The authors concluded that the effects of peer influence were due, in part, to the influence of the emotional climate of the girls' families.

Locus of peer influence: Social crowd and best friend

This study examined the relative influence of the best friends and social crowds of older adolescents on cigarette smoking. The data were examined to determine if there were differences in influence as a function of sex, conformity, or the mutuality of the friendship. This study used a longitudinal design that enabled the separation of the effects of peer influence from those of selective association. The results showed that social crowds differed in mean level of cigarette smoking, with burnouts smoking the most and jock/preps smoking the least. The majority of best friendships were homogeneous for social crowd. Best friend influence predicted change in cigarette smoking over a one-year period, while social crowd influence appeared to be minimal. Conformity was positively related to susceptibility to peer influence, although mutuality of the friendship and sex of the subject were not.

Grade changes in peer influence on adolescent cigarette smoking: A comparison of two measures

The effects of peer influence on adolescent cigarette smoking were investigated in longitudinal study of 309 white, middle-class subjects in the 8th and 11th grades. Subjects provided data on their smoking behavior, the proportion of their friends who smoked, and the identity of their best friend. Data from the person named as best friend was used to measure peer smoking, rather than the adolescent's perceptions of the friend's smoking. Peer influence was defined as the difference between the subject's smoking behavior and that of their best friend. This definition (PI1) minimized the confounding of peer influence with selective association. The effects of peer influence on change in smoking behavior were found to be stronger for 8th than 11th graders and for boys than girls. When the proportion of friends who smoke (PI2) was used as the measure of peer influence, the effects of peer influence were stronger for 11th than 8th graders. The relative merits of the two measures are discussed, and the argument is made that the difference between friend and adolescent smoking is a more appropriate measure of peer influence than the proportion of friends who smoke.

Effects of Peer, Faculty, and Parental Influences on Students' Persistence

The literatures on the social influence of referent others suggest four questions that need to be answered: (1) Who are the influential persons? (2) What types of influence are used? (3) What is the nature of the influence process? and (4) Are the effects of social influence substantial and independent of other forces? Data from a longitudinal study of the persistence in college of first-year undergraduates at a large, midwestern state university were analyzed to determine answers to these questions. With ability levels, grades, academic majors, and many other characteristics of students controlled, effects of social influences on students' persistence remained significant. Parents and peers were found to have stronger influences than were the faculty on the persistence of students. Normative influences were found to have stronger effects than were modeling influences, and these two types of influence had both direct effects on persistence and indirect, internalized effects through students' behavioral intentions.

RELIGIOSITY, PEER ASSOCIATIONS, AND ADOLESCENT MARIJUANA USE: A PANEL STUDY OF UNDERLYING CAUSAL STRUCTURES*

This paper examines the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use. Using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three‐wave, four‐variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated. Each model specifies causal links between measures of religious attitude and predispositions (religious commitment and an act‐specific religious belief), involvement with marijuana‐using friends, and self‐reported marijuana use. The results provide evidence that the impact of religion is indirect through its influence on the variable Peer Associations. The findings also show the emergence of a direct effect of the act‐specific belief on behavior over time. This effect is interpreted to be more a function of within‐group attitude‐behavior similarity due to social selection than to socialization to peer group standards. These findings extend rather than refute previous research which fails to control for the effects of peer influences.

Advertising as Information

This paper tries to show how the major features of the behavior of advertising can be explained by advertising's information function. For search qualities advertising provides direct information about the characteristics of a brand. For experience qualities the most important information conveyed by advertising is simply that the brand advertises. This contrast in advertising by these qualities leads to significant differences in its behavior. How does advertising provide information to the consumer? The producer in his advertising is not interested directly in providing information for consumers. He is interested in selling more of his product. Subject to a few constraints, the advertising message says anything the seller of a brand wishes. A mechanism is required to make the selling job of advertising generate information to the consumer. [Авторский текст]