Proportion Of Friends Research Articles

The influence of social environment on internet connectedness of adolescents in Seoul, Singapore and Taipei

This article examines the influence of the social environment on adolescents’ connectedness to the internet in East Asia, one of the most wired regions in the world. Connectedness is a qualitative conceptualization of an individual’s relationship with the internet, taking into consideration the breadth, depth, and the importance of individuals’ internet experience. This study seeks to situate adolescents’ internet connectedness in three spheres of social environment: (1) the general social support measured by how easy it is to get help when adolescents encounter problems in using the internet; (2) the parents, where we examine parents’ socioeconomic status and their internet use; and (3) the peer group, where we look into the proportion of friends who connect to the internet. The results from a survey of 1303 adolescents in Seoul, Singapore and Taipei support our major hypothesis that among the internet-using adolescents, their internet connectedness patterns differ by the nature of their social environments.

Substance Use Disorders and Cluster B Personality Disorders: Physiological, Cognitive, and Environmental Correlates in a College Sample

Substance use disorders (SUDs) and Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) are both marked by impulsivity and poor behavioral control and may result in part from shared neurobiological or executive cognitive functioning deficits. To examine the potential utility of such models in explaining variance in SUDs and PDs at the lower end of symptom expression and impairment, 123 (73 female) volunteer college students were administered 2 measures of executive cognitive functioning; a task assessing autonomic reactivity to aversive noise blasts; a life events and a peer substance use measure; and structured clinical interviews to assess symptoms of substance abuse/dependence and antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic PDs. As expected, symptoms of SUDs and PDs were significantly positively correlated. Antisocial PD, alcohol and cannabis use disorder symptoms were significantly positively related to proportion of friends who use alcohol and drugs regularly and drug use among romantic partners. Number of negative life events was positively related to PD symptoms and to alcohol use disorder symptoms. Executive cognitive functioning was not related to SUD and PD symptoms in the expected direction. Findings suggest that, among higher functioning young adults, environmental factors may be particularly relevant to our understanding of SUDs and certain PDs.

Age, gender, and urban–rural differences in the correlates of physical activity

Background. The majority of the population is inactive, and strategies to date for promoting regular physical activity have been limited in their effectiveness. Further research is needed to identify correlates of physical activity in different subgroups to design more efficacious interventions. This study sought to identify correlates of physical activity across men and women, urban and rural geographical locations, and four distinct age groups (18–25; 26–45; 46–59; and 60+). Methods. This study employed data from a large provincial household random sample ( N = 20,606) of Canadians. Analyses were utilized to examine the amount of variance explained in self-reported physical activity by a number of demographic and/or biological, psychological, behavioral, social, and environmental variables within each subgroup. Results. Proportion of friends who exercise, injury from past physical activity, educational level, perceived health status, and alcohol consumption were among the strongest correlates across subgroups. Conclusions. A number of correlates were identified as being significant across all subgroups examined. Most differences in the correlates of physical activity were found within different age groups rather than among urban and rural residents and gender.

Resident Attitudes Toward a Proposed Limestone Quarry

A limestone quarry proposal in a small Pennsylvania community triggered disagreements among residents. Some actively opposed the quarry while a small group supported it. The majority of residents did not become involved in the issue. This research examines why residents responded differently to the operation of this quarry in their community. First, key and action informant interviews were conducted. Next, a content analysis of these interviews was used to develop a survey questionnaire. The survey was administered through a drop-off/pick-up method, eliciting a return rate of 69.7 percent. The strongest predictor of quarry attitude was attitude toward private property rights. Respondents who supported private property rights had favorable attitudes toward the quarry. Other significant predictors included environmental behavior, proportion of friends in the community, length of residence, level of involvement in community activities, and participation in a local festival. Implications of these findings for community development are discussed.

Why is lone‐motherhood so strongly associated with smoking?

Objective: Lone mothers are among the most disadvantaged groups in many countries. Smoking prevalence among this demographic group is considerably higher than the general population. Previous work has shown that only part of this difference can be explained by age, not having a partner, living alone, and socio‐economic factors. This study examined the contribution of mental health, the social environment, and the lifecourse in explaining the effect of lone motherhood on smoking status.Methods: Cross‐sectional data from the 1995 National Health Survey and 2001 National Drug Strategy Survey were used. Smoking was defined as daily smoking. Mental health was assessed using a 14‐item scale from the SF‐36. Proportion of friends who smoke was used as an indicator of the social environment. Age started smoking daily (≤ 18 and >18) was used as a lifecourse factor.Results: Mental health, proportion of friends who smoke and age of smoking initiation had strong associations with smoking status. However, they accounted for a small part of the association of being a lone mother and a smoker. After controlling for these factors, the odds of being a smoker among lone mothers w ere still twice those of mothers with partners (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7–2.7).Conclusions and Implications: Improving the socio‐economic status (SES), mental health and the social environment of lone mothers could help reduce their high smoking prevalence. However, much of the effect of being a lone mother remains even after controlling for these factors. More research is needed to discover why prevalence is so high among this demographic group.

Smoking Restrictions in the Home and Car among Rural Native American and White Families with Young Children

Background. This paper examines the prevalence of household and car smoking restrictions, factors associated with these restrictions, and children's exposure to secondhand smoke in homes with varying levels of household smoking restrictions in rural Native American and White families. Methods. In-person interviews were conducted with 380 rural, low-income Native American and White parents or guardians who were the primary caregivers of children aged 1–6 in northeastern Oklahoma. Results. Prevalence of complete smoking bans was 49.1% in Native American homes and 42.7% in White homes. Car smoking bans were less common, with 34.9% of Native American and 39.6% of White caregivers reporting complete bans. Among nonsmoking households, the proportion of friends who smoked was associated with both car and home smoking bans. Race and education of the caregivers were also associated with car smoking bans in homes with no adult smokers. Among smokers, cigarettes smoked per day, quit attempts within the past year, and the strong belief that secondhand smoke harmed children and babies were related to household smoking bans, whereas cigarettes smoked per day and the proportion of friends who smoked were related to car smoking bans. Conclusions. Despite the relatively low prevalence of smoking bans in our population, factors associated with household and car smoking bans were similar to those found in the general population.

Predictors of smoking cessation from adolescence into young adulthood.

Although smoking cigarettes is hazardous to health and cessation has positive health benefits, few smokers are able to successfully quit. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of smoking cessation in a nonclinical sample of 134 male and 190 female, young adult, regular (daily) smokers within a social learning and maturing-out framework. Four waves of prospective, longitudinal data from a community sample followed from adolescence into young adulthood were analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the effects of differential associations, definitions, differential reinforcement, and changes in adult role status on smoking cessation in young adulthood. Becoming married to a nonsmoker and decreases in the proportion of friends who smoked were significant predictors of cessation. Current smokers and stoppers did not differ significantly in terms of prior intensity of cigarette use or alcohol abuse/dependence. They also did not differ in terms of psychological characteristics, including depression and prior coping use of cigarettes. Social networks were more important than social roles for predicting cessation in young adulthood. Thus, smoking cessation programs should focus on social learning processes.

Increasing Purchases of Locally Grown Produce Through Worksite Sales: An Ecological Model

The purpose of this study was to test an ecological model designed to identify social and environmental factors that encourage local produce buying. Pre- and postintervention surveys in June and September 1997 measured local produce purchasing and factors identified by the model. At three mid-sized worksites in a rural Maine community, the response rate was 68% (135 employees) preintervention and 61% (124) postmtervention. For 6 weeks, workers were given the opportunity to order local produce at work; to see, taste, and read about the produce; and to see coworkers sample and buy it. Associations were examined between increased purchases of locally grown produce outside the workplace and ordering at work, proportion of friends who ordered, degree of satisfaction with orders ascribed to coworkers, and degree of satisfaction with the project ascribed to management. McNemar's test and chi-square analyses were the statistical analyses performed. Purchasing locally grown produce at work apparently motivated consumers to purchase local produce outside the workplace. Workers’ observations of coworker and management participation in and satisfaction with the project were associated with increased purchasing outside the workplace. Sales at worksites offer a potentially important way to increase purchases of locally grown produce.

Smoking Bans in the Home and Car: Do Those Who Really Need Them Have Them?

Background. This paper addresses the question of whether individuals who are most in need of household and car smoking bans, such as individuals with children living at home or who have many friends who smoke, are the ones who have them.Method. A representative sample of 6985 California adults ages 18 and older participated in telephone interviews.Results. Overall, 76% of adults report having home smoking bans and 66% have car smoking bans. Being a smoker or African American, not having children in the home, having more friends who smoke, and lower household income were associated with lower prevalence of both home and car smoking bans (P < 0.01). In multivariate analyses, nonsmokers were 7.9 (95% CI = 3.56, 17.31) times more likely to have a home smoking ban when none of their friends were smokers compared to when most of their friends were smokers. Among smokers, there was an interaction between having children at home and the proportion of friends who smoke. Only 27 to 55% of smokers had home smoking bans unless most of their friends were smokers, then the odds of having a ban were 6.1 (95% CI = 2.76, 13.68) times higher for smokers with children (67% with home bans) than for smokers without children at home (25% with home bans).Conclusions. Efforts to increase home and car smoking bans for nonsmokers who have friends who smoke and smokers with children living at home are needed.

Casual sex on spring break: Intentions and behaviors of canadian students

Using Triandis's theory of interpersonal behavior, we analyzed factors related to casual sex among Canadian university students on a spring break vacation. Two samples were obtained: 151 students completed a questionnaire before a spring break trip to Daytona Beach, Florida and 681 completed a questionnaire during or immediately following the vacation. More men than women intended to have casual sex but similar percentages of men (15%) and women (13%) had actually engaged in casual sex. In ordinary least squares regression, expectation of participation in spring break activities, social norms expressed through peer group influences, and personal attitudes explained 74% of the variance in the intentions to engage in casual sex. In logistic regression, intentions and participation in spring break activities correctly classified 80% of the men into those who did and did not engage in casual sex. Agreements formed with friends about casual sex and the proportion of friends who participated in coitus on spring break correctly classified 88% of women.

The influence of posttreatment mutual help group participation on the friendship networks of substance abuse patients.

The effect of 12-step mutual help groups (e.g., Narcotics Anonymous) on members' friendship networks has received little attention. This 1-year longitudinal study examined such effects in a sample of 2,337 male substance abuse inpatients, 57.7% of whom became significantly involved in 12-step activities (e.g., reading program literature, attending meetings) after treatment. An a priori model of the interplay of 12-step involvement) and friendship networks was tested using structural equation modeling, and found to have excellent fit to the data. Twelve-step group involvement after treatment predicted better general friendship characteristics (e.g., number of close friends) and substance abuse-specific friendship characteristics (e.g., proportion of friends who abstain from drugs and alcohol) at follow-up. Results are discussed in terms of how mutual help group involvement benefits patients and how the self-help group evaluation paradigm should be broadened.

Academic achievement of Vietnamese American adolescents: A community perspective

This article investigates influences on academic achievement among Vietnamese American high school students. Theorists have offered a variety of explanations for Asian American academic success, and characteristics of individual families have received particular attention in many of these explanations. Here, it is argued that the academic success of Vietnamese American students may be understood as the product of “social capital,” or tightly integrated sets of associations, within Vietnamese American communities. If this is the case, it is further argued, high levels of scholastic performance among Vietnamese American youth should be proportionate to their involvement with an ethnic community. The article uses data from a specific Vietnamese American community to find whether community involvement by adolescents and their families is in fact associated with academic achievement. Participation in an ethnic church, proportion of friends who are Vietnamese, and attendance at after‐school Vietnamese classes a...

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.

Differentiating specialists and generalists within college students' social support networks

In order to examine the relationships among social network structure, types of social support, and determinants of support satisfaction, an alternative method was used to score the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ). Factor analysis procedures suggested that college students' (N=198) social networks consisted of four groups: nuclear family, other family, friends, and others. Satisfaction with support was positively related to the proportion of the network occupied by nuclear family and negatively related to the proportion of friends in the network. Evidence was found for the presence of both support specialists and support generalists in the networks of the college students. These results are discussed from a developmental perspective with attention to the implications for interventions.

Participation of Senior Citizens in the Swine Flu Inoculation Program: An Analysis of Health Belief Model Variables in Preventive Health Behavior

Evidence is presented of statistically significant and strong relationships between Swine Flu Inoculation status and nine variables in the reformulated Health Belief Model with 122 randomly selected subjects, primarily Black and Portuguese-American, who are active members of two Providence, Rhode Island senior centers. No statistically significant relationship was discovered between inoculation status and previously having had the flu. The variables which were found related are: Efficacy, Safety, Knowledge of Side Effects, Prior Flu Shot Status, Proportion of Friends and Relatives Who Got the Shot, Sex, Race, Future Plans for Flu Shots, and Future Plans for Other Inoculations. The data were obtained through personal interviews in the Spring of 1977. It is suggested that the results provide some basis for optimism for successful intervention designed to change the future preventive health behaviors of nonparticipants in the Swine Flu Inoculation Program. Many nonparticipants had fears and doubts about the effectiveness and safety of the shot and are amendable to suggestions from physicians about future inoculation participation. Full information should be provided to high-risk groups such as senior citizens about the relative risks of suffering serious side effects, the effectiveness and safety of the procedure for persons their age with the typical health problems of senior citizens, and the relative risks and dangers to them of contracting the illness against which the shot is designed to protect them.

Friendship Choices and Residence Hall Proximity among Freshmen and Upper Year Students

Berdie (1966) and Martin (1968) have detailed differential needs of students which suggest that residence-hall interaction might be more beneficial to freshmen than to senior students. It was hypothesized that (1) freshmen as opposed to seniors would form friendships primarily within close residential proximity and (2) that residence friends would influence the decision to return to residence another term. A random sample of 120 Ss was selected from one female residence at the University of Saskatchewan. Ss were interviewed individually and asked to list the five people, residence or otherwise, that they most frequently dined or visited with. These nominated friends were then classified in terms of proximity to S according to five categories from living in the same alley or hall to not living in residence. Proportions of friends in each category were then compared for freshmen and seniors. Results indicated that freshmen do tend to select friends on the basis of physical proximity, with a significant proportion of freshman friends being in the nearest category (x2 = 62.22, df = 4, p < .001), while senior friendships were distributed over all categories. There was also a correspondence between choices of accommodation among Ss and friends. Among Ss who chose co return to residence, 65% of their friends were also returning, but with Ss choosing not to return, 75% of their friends made the same decision (x2 = 137.46, df = 2, p < .001). Although some critics of college residence halls believe that contemporary social interaction patterns require small-group housing, the results of this study confirm the findings of Menne and Sinnett (1971) and suggest that residence halls may be an important factor in the development of freshman social relationships.