Adult Monitoring in the Context of Peer Influence and Selection Effects on Adolescent Binge Drinking

Introduction: Binge drinking is a serious public health concern associated with increased risk of unintentional injuries, violence, sexual transmitted infections, as well as several chronic diseases. Identifying social environmental factors that influence the onset to binge drinking is essential to develop effective routes for prevention and intervention.

In this study, we examine how the onset to binge drinking spreads across social networks in adolescence. By taking a network-based approach, we can identify how this health-risking behavior influences the selection of friends, as well as how social network characteristics can influence an individual’s adoption of this behavior. Further, we examine the influence of parental monitoring on adolescents’ binge drinking behavior.

Methods: We examined self-report data collected from seven school districts (n=1,220) located in Western Oregon. Participants completed a survey at three time points across ninth grade. This survey included measures of engagement in binge drinking behavior, as well as a component which assessed the social tie (none, peer, friend, or best friend) between the participant and each of the other participants in the study within the same high school. We applied Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models to examine how social network dynamics, individual covariates, and dyadic covariates influenced the selection of friends as well as the adoption of binge drinking. Specifically, we examined how unsupervised time with a friend and binge drinking similarity impacted friendship selection, as well as their interaction. We also examined how binge drinking onset spread through these social networks and if spending unsupervised time with friends impacted the likelihood of adopting binge drinking behavior.

Results: Self-reported binge drinking onset increased across ninth grade for each high school (range at beginning of ninth grade: 8.8% - 25.6%; range at end of ninth grade: 24.1% - 43.8%). Our model did not converge for one of the schools, and this school was excluded from the analysis. Five high schools displayed similar patterns of selection and influence effects regarding unsupervised time and binge drinking. Adolescents with greater binge similarity who spent more unsupervised time together were less likely to maintain or form friendships. Adolescents were more likely to onset to binge drinking if they spent more unsupervised time with friends. Only one high school did not display this pattern.

Conclusions: This study takes an innovative social network modeling approach to identify social environmental factors that influence the onset of binge drinking. Our results suggest that parental monitoring can influence the onset of binge drinking behavior in adolescence.