Willingness to Drink as a Function of Peer Offers and Peer Norms in Early Adolescence

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: The goal of this study was to explore the effect of subjective peer norms on adolescents' willingness to drink and whether this association was moderated by sensitivity to peer approval, prior alcohol use, and gender. Method: The sample was 1,023 middleschool students (52% female; 76% White; 12% Hispanic; M age = 12.22 years) enrolled in a prospective study of drinking initiation and progression. Using web-based surveys, participants reported on their willingness to drink alcohol if offered by (a) a best friend or (b) a classmate, peer norms for two referent groups (close friends and classmates), history of sipping or consuming a full drink of alcohol, and sensitivity to peer approval (extreme peer orientation). Items were re-assessed at two followups (administered 6 months apart). Results: Multilevel models revealed that measures of peer norms were signifi cantly associated with both willingness outcomes, with the greatest prediction by descriptive norms. The association between norms and willingness was magnifi ed for girls, those with limited prior experience with alcohol, and youths with low sensitivity to peer approval. Conclusions: Social norms appear to play a key role in substance use decisions and are relevant when considering more reactive behaviors that refl ect willingness to drink under conducive circumstances. Prevention programs might target individuals with higher willingness, particularly girls who perceive others to be drinking and youths who have not yet sipped alcohol but report a higher perceived prevalence of alcohol consumption among both friends and peers. (J.

Changes in negative urgency, positive urgency, and sensation seeking across adolescence

“…Data were drawn from an ongoing three-year study on alcohol initiation and progression (see Jackson et al, 2014, for more details) involving 1023 students from six Rhode Island middle schools; five participants did not complete UPPS-P measures, resulting in an overall sample size of 1018. In the current sample, 52% of participants were female, and 76% participants were White, 5% were African American, 8% were mixed race/ethnicity, and 11% were other race/ethnicity; 12% self-identified as Hispanic ethnicity.…”

Parent–Child Discrepancies in Reports of Parental Monitoring and Their Relationship to Adolescent Alcohol-Related Behaviors

“…The current sample consisted of parents and adolescents in an ongoing prospective study of alcohol initiation and progression (Jackson et al, 2014). Early adolescents and their parents or guardians (herein referred to as parents) were recruited in five cohorts from 6 schools in urban and suburban Rhode Island; the present study uses data from the first four cohorts, as data collection is ongoing for Cohort 5.…”

Parental Knowledge is a Contextual Amplifier of Associations of Pubertal Maturation and Substance Use

“…Data were taken from an ongoing three-year study on adolescent alcohol use and progression (see Jackson et al, 2014). Participants included N=1,023 youth (52% female; 12% Hispanic; 76% Caucasian, 5% Black, 8% mixed race; 12% Other race/ethnicity) from six middle schools (two rural, three suburban, and one urban), with data collected in five cohorts enrolled roughly six months apart (Cohort 1 was comprised of two schools).…”

“…Participants were recruited directly from schools, with study information mailed and also provided in classrooms (see Jackson et al 2014 for additional details). Completed consent forms were returned to schools with classroom incentives for returned forms (regardless of whether consent to participate in the study was granted).…”