The Proactivity of People Who Use Drugs as a Political and Ethical Imperative

Background: Alcohol consumption often appears to be under social influence. However, we know relatively little about whether some people are particularly likely to exhibit similar drinking patterns to their peers. Objectives: Here we tested the extent to which trait social approval concerns and trait self-control are associated with the likelihood that individuals display similar heavy episodic drinking patterns to their peers. Method: One thousand and fifty-six young adults participated in an online study. We measured trait social approval concerns (the Need to Belong scale) and trait self-control (the Self-Control scale) alongside personal heavy episodic drinking and perceptions of peer heavy episodic drinking. Results: Beliefs that one's peers (other students) drank heavily were associated with heavier personal episodic drinking. This relationship was moderated by trait self-control: The correlation between personal heavy episodic drinking and perceived peer drinking was much stronger in those with low self-control compared with those with high self-control. Contrary to hypotheses, trait social approval concerns did not moderate the relationship between perceived peer drinking and personal heavy episodic drinking. Conclusions: Social norms about drinking could act as a form of informational cue for one's own alcohol consumption, but the extent to which individuals follow or override this cue may depend on individual differences in self-control.     

Alcohol perceptions and behavior in a residential peer social network

Personalized normative feedback is a recommended component of alcohol interventions targeting college students. However, normative data are commonly collected through campus-based surveys, not through actual participant-referent relationships. In the present investigation, we examined how misperceptions of residence hall peers, both overall using a global question and those designated as important peers using person-specific questions, were related to students' personal drinking behaviors. Participants were 108 students (88% freshman, 54% White, 51% female) residing in a single campus residence hall. Participants completed an online baseline survey in which they reported their own alcohol use and perceptions of peer alcohol use using both an individual peer network measure and a global peer perception measure of their residential peers. We employed network autocorrelation models, which account for the inherent correlation between observations, to test hypotheses. Overall, participants accurately perceived the drinking of nominated friends but overestimated the drinking of residential peers. Consistent with hypotheses, overestimating nominated friend and global residential peer drinking predicted higher personal drinking, although perception of nominated peers was a stronger predictor. Interaction analyses showed that the relationship between global misperception and participant self-reported drinking was significant for heavy drinkers, but not non-heavy drinkers. The current findings explicate how student perceptions of peer drinking within an established social network influence drinking behaviors, which may be used to enhance the effectiveness of normative feedback interventions.     

Social networks and alcohol use among nonstudent emerging adults: a preliminary study

We examined the social networks and alcohol use of a community-based sample of nonstudent emerging adults (N=59). The research examined (1) personal network characteristics and the drinking habits of its members, (2) the link between network alcohol use and personal alcohol involvement, (3) perceived social norms as they related to network alcohol use, and (4) relationship between perceived social norms and personal alcohol involvement. Men and women (M age=27 years) were equally represented in the social network. Level of educational attainment of members was diverse. On average, respondents were in contact on a daily basis with network members and about 38% of the network was known between 1 and 5 years. The majority (57%) of the network consisted of household or family members. There were some associations between network drinking and personal alcohol involvement. The proportion of "drinking buddies" in one's network was directly associated with perceived drinking norms. Perceived drinking norms also were positively associated with personal alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and approval of drinking behaviors. Findings from this study have implications for understanding social factors in the drinking behavior of nonstudent emerging adults and could inform the development of effective prevention and treatment interventions for this important, but understudied group of drinkers.     

Peer networks among heavy, regular and infrequent drinkers prior to marriage

OBJECTIVE: Research has consistently demonstrated that, among adolescents, the characteristics of one's peers are important predictors of substance abuse. The impact of the peer network on adult drinking, however, has received considerably less attention. The purpose of the present study was to examine social network characteristics that are associated with heavy drinking in adulthood prior to marriage. METHOD: Couples were recruited at the time of their first marriage. Husbands and wives were each given identical questionnaire packets to complete at home, independently, as well as a postage-paid envelope for packet return. A broad range of constructs was assessed; included were personality characteristics, relationship functioning, drinking behavior and social network characteristics. Complete data were obtained from 471 husbands and 471 wives. RESULTS: The social networks of heavy-drinking men, compared to men drinking regularly or infrequently, were younger, more likely to be male and unmarried and consisted of friends rather than family or others. For both men and women, "drinking buddies" accounted for nearly 75% of the heavy drinkers' peer networks. The overall ratings of support and conflict created by peers did not differ according to drinking group, for either men or women. CONCLUSIONS: Prior to marriage, the social networks of heavy drinkers differ considerably from the networks of regular or infrequent drinkers with regard to the drinking patterns of their peers. An important finding was that heavy drinkers appear to experience a similar level of emotional, financial and practical support from their peer network compared to regular or infrequent drinkers.     

I like people who drink like me: Perceived appeal as a function of drinking status

IntroductionIndividuals rate opposite sex faces as more attractive after consuming or being primed with alcohol. However, other traits such as intelligence and likeability have not been examined and might vary as a function of information about one's drinking habits. We expected social drinkers to be rated more positively than heavy drinkers, abstainers, or recovering alcoholics. We further hypothesized that faces with similar drinking habits to participants would be rated as more appealing.MethodsFive hundred ninety-four undergraduates viewed 25 opposite sex faces randomly paired with drinking information, and rated each face on perceived appeal.ResultsHierarchical linear models revealed that social drinkers were rated as most appealing, as expected. Unexpectedly, recovering alcoholics were rated as the next most appealing, followed by abstainers, then heavy drinkers. The interaction between drinker type and participants' own drinking predicting ratings indicated that the heavier the participant drinks, the more favorably they rated heavy drinkers compared to other types of drinkers. Thus, as expected, ratings varied as a function of participants' own drinking; however, ratings did not vary as a function of participants' alcohol-related problems.ConclusionsFindings support hypotheses in that social drinkers were generally perceived as appealing compared to other drinker types, and ratings tended to be influenced by participants' own drinking. Individuals' prototypes and norms regarding drinking may influence how they perceive others when others' drinking habits are known. This might be especially important to consider with heavy drinkers who may seek out others who drink similarly, which could reinforce problematic drinking.     

Perceived peer norms and alcohol use among college students in China

IntroductionCurrently, there has been little research on peer drinking norms with non-English speaking college populations. Using a Chinese college student sample, the present study investigated perceived peer norms and their associations with individual alcohol-related behaviors.MethodsPast six-month drinkers (n = 436, 50% men, mean age = 20.49) recruited from one college in China took an anonymous paper-and-pencil survey. To examine the differences in alcohol-related behaviors among groups, one-way repeated measures analysis of variance and chi-square tests were conducted. To investigate the associations between perceived peer norms and individual alcohol-related behaviors, sequential linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted.ResultsThere were overall mean differences in alcohol use among participants, perceived best friends, and perceived average student for both men (F (1.98, 421.06) = 13.12, p < .001) and women (F (1.89, 399.70) = 5.79, p < .01). The proportion of best friends perceived as having had heavy episodic drinking was higher than that of participants who had had heavy episodic drinking (χ² (1, N = 415) = 61.85, p < .001). So was the proportion of the average student perceived as having had heavy episodic drinking (χ² (1, N = 414) = 68.17, p < .001). After controlling for demographic variables, perceived peer alcohol use explained 17% of the variance in individual alcohol use; perceived peer heavy episodic drinking contributed to 2.6 to 3.6 times higher odds of participants' reporting heavy episodic drinking.ConclusionsReplication research is needed to inform social norms interventions for Chinese college students.     

Multiple trajectories of peer and parental influence and their association with the development of adolescent heavy drinking

This study used latent growth mixture modeling to identify discrete developmental patterns of heavy drinking, perceived parental disapproval of substance use, and association with peers who drink from early to late adolescence among a sample of 5591 youth. We also examined associations among these trajectories to determine how the development of heavy drinking relates to the development of perceived parental disapproval of substance use and association with peer drinkers, both separately and jointly. We found that youth who perceived that their parents maintained consistently strong disapproval of substance use throughout adolescence were much more likely to abstain from heavy drinking during this period than were youth who reported that their parents' disapproval for substance use either decreased or was maintained at only a moderate level. Furthermore, we found that across a variety of peer contexts—stable high association with drinking peers, stable low association, and increasing association—youth were at lowest risk for developing problematic patterns of heavy drinking when they perceived that their parents maintained strong disapproval of substance use throughout adolescence.     

An experimental study on the effects of peer drinking norms on adolescents' drinker prototypes

Background

Adolescents form impressions about the type of peers who drink (i.e., drinker prototypes). The evaluation of, and perceived similarity to these prototypes are related to adolescents' drinking. Peer drinking norms play an important role in the formation of prototypes. We experimentally examined whether manipulation of peer norms changed the evaluation of and perceived similarity to drinker prototypes and whether these changes were moderated by peers' popularity.

Methods

In a pre-test, we assessed heavy drinker, moderate drinker and abstainer prototypes, drinking behaviors and peer-perceived popularity among 599 adolescents. Additionally, 88 boys from this sample participated in a simulated chat room, in which they interacted with peers from school. These peers were in fact pre-programmed e-confederates, who were either popular or unpopular and who communicated either pro-alcohol or anti-alcohol norms. After the chat room interaction we assessed participants' drinker prototypes.

Results

Participants exposed to anti-alcohol norms were more negative about, and perceived themselves as less similar to heavy drinker prototypes, than participants exposed to pro-alcohol norms. We found no effects of peer norms on moderate drinker and abstainer prototypes. Effects were not moderated by peers' popularity. We did find a main effect of popularity on perceived similarity to all prototypes. This indicated that participants rated themselves as more similar to heavy and moderate drinker prototypes and less similar to abstainer prototypes when they interacted with unpopular peers than with popular peers.

Conclusions

Exposure to anti-alcohol norms of peers leads adolescents to form more negative prototypes of the heavy drinker. This could be an important finding for prevention and intervention programs aimed to reduce alcohol consumption among adolescents.     

Assessing the Relationship Between Divergent Drinking and Perceptions of Friendship Quality Between Students

The use of psychoactive drugs appears to have a clear influence on both friendship formation and friendship quality. Differences in the frequency of substance use are particularly likely to influence each friend’s perceptions of their relationship with the other. However, the impact of divergent substance use patterns within a friendship dyad on overall friendship quality remains an underexplored area. Self-reported alcohol use and perceptions of friendship quality data were collected from 2,154 students (mean age = 19.3) in 1,077 friendship dyads. Analyses of variance were conducted to determine (a) if friends who have similar alcohol use patterns perceive greater friendship quality than friends with dissimilar use patterns, and (b) how dissimilarities in drinking behaviors between friends affect individuals’ perceptions of friendship quality. Individuals in dyads comprised of friends with similar drinking patterns were found to experience higher quality relationships than those in friendships with dissimilar drinking patterns. Partners who drank less frequently in dissimilar friendships did not perceive the friendship to be of significantly lower quality than did their more frequently drinking peers. Interestingly, high-rate heavy episodic drinkers reported a significantly higher overall friendship quality when their peer was a low-rate heavy episodic drinker as opposed to a non-heavy episodic drinker. Since high-rate drinkers perceived higher friendship quality to low-frequency drinkers than non-heavy episodic drinkers, they likely place more value in the opinions of low-rate drinkers. Abstinence-based alcohol intervention programs may utilize this information in efforts to decrease early dropout rates.     

The personal characteristics and life-style of the young drinker: the results of a survey of British adolescents

It is argued that studying the drinking patterns of adolescents can add much to our understanding of alcohol use. The present paper hypothesises that heavy drinkers will be experiencing more stress than light, moderate or non-drinkers and that consequently, they will perceive themselves as doing worse in school and will report more conflict with their parents. It is predicted that heavy drinkers will have failed to learn norms controlling alcohol use. It is anticipated that social norms are learnt through controlled drinking in a family setting and thus it is predicted that heavy drinkers will be less likely to drink with their parents and more likely to drink with their peers, than other groups of drinkers. It is argued that heavy drinkers will be more involved in peer group activities and less concerned about their health, than light, moderate or non-drinkers. These hypotheses were tested in a survey of 10 579 British adolescents (5068 boys), and support was found for all but one of these hypothesis (i.e., the hypothesis that heavy drinkers would be less likely to drink with their parents than light or moderate drinkers).     

Resistance to peer influence moderates the relationship between perceived (but not actual) peer norms and binge drinking in a college student social network

IntroductionAdolescent and young adult binge drinking is strongly associated with perceived social norms and the drinking behavior that occurs within peer networks. The extent to which an individual is influenced by the behavior of others may depend upon that individual's resistance to peer influence (RPI).MethodsStudents in their first semester of college (N = 1323; 54.7% female, 57% White, 15.1% Hispanic) reported on their own binge drinking, and the perceived binge drinking of up to 10 important peers in the first-year class. Using network autocorrelation models, we investigated cross-sectional relationships between participant's binge drinking frequency and the perceived and actual binge drinking frequency of important peers. We then tested the moderating role of RPI, expecting that greater RPI would weaken the relationship between perceived and actual peer binge drinking on participant binge drinking.ResultsPerceived and actual peer binge drinking were statistically significant predictors of participant binge drinking frequency in the past month, after controlling for covariates. RPI significantly moderated the association between perceptions of peer binge drinking and participant's own binge drinking; this association was weaker among participants with higher RPI compared to those with lower RPI. RPI did not interact with the actual binge drinking behavior of network peers.ConclusionsRPI may function to protect individuals from the effect of their perceptions about the binge drinking of peers, but not from the effect of the actual binge drinking of peers.     

Self-determination,perceived approval,and drinking: Differences between Asian Americans and Whites

The present research assessed racial differences in the associations among controlled orientation, injunctive norms, and increased drinking by White and Asian American college students. Previous research has noted racial differences in drinking, but reasons have not been considered in the context of individual differences in self-determination or responses to social influences. The authors evaluated perceived parental and peer injunctive norms as mediators of the relationship between controlled orientation and number of drinks consumed per week. The association between controlled orientation and drinking was further expected to be moderated by race. This study consisted of 534 White and 198 Asian American participants who had at least one heavy drinking episode in the month prior to assessment. Participants completed self-report measures assessing self-determination, perceived parental/peer injunctive norms, and drinking. Results indicated that peer injunctive norms served as a mediator between controlled orientation and greater number of drinks consumed per week for Whites only. Although Asian Americans were significantly higher in controlled orientation than Whites, they drank less and perceived their peers to be less approving of drinking. In contrast, Whites who were high in controlled orientation viewed their friends as being significantly more approving of alcohol and consumed significantly more drinks per week. Results provide unique considerations for understanding cultural differences in drinking among White and Asian American young adults.     

Personal drinking and sociocultural drinking norms: a representative population study

OBJECTIVE: This study examined relationships between personal drinking and perceived social norms for alcohol use. It was hypothesized that frequent heavy drinkers (i.e., those consuming five or more drinks at least once a week or greater in the last 12 months) would exhibit biases in sociocultural expectations for alcohol use. METHOD: A representative sample of Ontario residents who had consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months (N = 937, 51.8% women, mean [SD] age = 42.7 [15.2] years) compared their own alcohol use with the drinking habits of friends, coworkers and the general public. Respondents rated the importance of seven psychosocial factors that might define "problem drinking" and estimated the number of drinks social and problem drinkers are likely to have in different contexts. RESULTS: Compared with lighter drinkers, frequent heavy drinkers (1) believed that heavy alcohol use is more normative in social reference groups, (2) overestimated the amount of alcohol that social and problem drinkers consume in different contexts, (3) rated several criteria (e.g., frequency of intoxication) as less definitive of problem drinking and (4) did not exhibit pluralistic ignorance (i.e., they shifted private approval of the drinking habits of others to match [mistaken] social norms of reference groups). CONCLUSIONS: Frequent heavy drinkers calibrate their beliefs about drinking in reference groups in order to view their drinking as normative. Results are discussed in relation to the development of brief public health interventions.     

Effect of religion and religiosity on alcohol use in a college student sample

Two hundred and sixty-three alcohol using college students completed a questionnaire on their levels of alcohol use, problems with alcohol use, reasons for drinking, perceptions of control over drinking, impulsivity, venturesomeness, irrational beliefs, neuroticism, expectations of alcohol effects, depression, social norms, religious affiliation and intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity. Analyses of variance revealed that students with no religious affiliation reported significantly higher levels of drinking frequency and quantity, getting drunk, celebratory reasons for drinking and perceived drinking norms than those of either Catholic or Protestant religious affiliation, while no significant differences across groups were found for alcohol use problems. Protestants reported significantly higher levels of perceived drinking control than Catholics. Intrinsic religiosity, reflecting one's ego involvement with the tenets of one's religion, appeared to play a more important positive role over drinking behavior for Protestants than for Catholics.