Not getting high with a little help from your friends: Social versus drug network correlates of marijuana use among YMSM

Abstract

Substantial evidence has documented the importance of social connections in shaping health and drug use behaviors among adolescents and young adults. The current study extends previous research into the associations between network characteristics and drug use behavior among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) by 1) examining multiple network characteristics, 2) simultaneously assessing multiple network types (i.e., social and drug use), and 3) examining change in network characteristics and drug use behavior over time. Data for the current study comes from RADAR, a longitudinal cohort study of YMSM. Latent growth curve models examined the change in frequency of marijuana use across four observations and individual and network correlates of this change including: demographics, drug network size, drug network density, social network size, and social network density. Baseline frequency of marijuana use was positively associated with drug network size and density, while it was inversely related to social network size and density. In addition, increasing frequency of marijuana use was associated with increases in drug network size and density, while it was associated with decreases in social network size. These findings highlight the complexity of multiple network types (e.g., drug and social) and network structures (e.g., size and density) in understanding drug use behavior among YMSM. Furthermore, as changes in drug and social networks may be indicative of changes in marijuana use, peer relationships may be especially important in understanding an individual's trajectories of marijuana use.

Collective Motivational Interviewing for Individuals with Drug Use Problems: A Pre-Post–Follow-Up, Uncontrolled Pilot Study

“…On the other hand, disruptive social relationships can also trigger a relapse of drug use [ 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Therefore, precautions should be taken when initiating social support, for example, by helping the client and CSOs develop healthy activities and mutual interests for a positive and healthy social network [ 65 , 66 , 67 ].…”

Assessing the Efficacy of Marijuana Prevention Initiatives for Promoting Students' Well-Being at Lagos State University

“…Peer influence and accessibility: Shaping marijuana use among university students Peer influence is a potent force in shaping the attitudes and behaviours of university students towards marijuana use. Numerous studies have consistently underlined the significant role of peers in the initiation and continuation of substance use, particularly marijuana (Hahlbeck & Vito, 2022;Janulis et. al, 2019;Vogel et al, 2015).…”

Recreational Drug use and Risk of HIV Infection Among Young Men Who Have Sex with men: A Cross-Sectional Study in Tianjin, China

“…Drug users were more likely to have higher education. The impact of education levels on drug use mostly laid in extensive social networking and availability for drugs [7]. One study also found that it was di cult for those with university education levels to attain an appropriate support network for avoiding recreational drug use, thus leading to drug use [36].…”

“…Compared with the older MSM, YMSM were in their sexually active period and might have more sexual activities. Moreover, owing to freshness, thrill-seeking and peer in uence [6][7][8][9], they were more likely to use recreational drugs when engaging in sexual behaviors. Data from World Health Organization (WHO) also indicated that YMSM were more vulnerable to HIV and had a greater HIV risk than heterosexual young people or older MSM [10], which implied they were a special population to be concerned.…”