Abstract
Aims
We investigated whether (1) adolescents selected friends with a similar socio-economic status (SES), (2) smoking and alcohol consumption spread in networks and (3) the exclusion of non-smokers or non-drinkers differed between SES groups.
Design
This was a longitudinal study using stochastic actor-oriented models to analyze complete social network data over three waves.
Setting
Eight Hungarian secondary schools with socio-economically diverse classes took part.
Participants
This study comprised 232 adolescents aged between 14 and 15 years in the first wave.
Measurements
Self-reported smoking behavior, alcohol consumption behavior and friendship ties were measured. SES was measured based upon entitlement to an income-tested regular child protection benefit.
Findings
Non-low-SES adolescents were most likely to form friendships with peers from their own SES group [odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02–1.11]. Adolescents adjusted their smoking behavior (OR = 24.05, 95% CI = 1.27–454.86) but not their alcohol consumption (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 0.62–4.39) to follow the behavior of their friends. Smokers did not differ from non-smokers in the likelihood of receiving a friendship nomination (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.87–1.10), regardless of their SES. Alcohol consumers received significantly more friendship nominations than non-consumers (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.01–1.33), but this association was not significantly different according to SES.
Conclusions
Hungarian adolescents appear to prefer friendships within their own socio-economic status group, and smoking and alcohol consumption spread within those friendship networks. Socio-economic groups do not differ in the extent to which they encourage smoking or alcohol consumption.
We investigated whether (1) adolescents selected friends with a similar socio-economic status (SES), (2) smoking and alcohol consumption spread in networks and (3) the exclusion of non-smokers or non-drinkers differed between SES groups.
Design
This was a longitudinal study using stochastic actor-oriented models to analyze complete social network data over three waves.
Setting
Eight Hungarian secondary schools with socio-economically diverse classes took part.
Participants
This study comprised 232 adolescents aged between 14 and 15 years in the first wave.
Measurements
Self-reported smoking behavior, alcohol consumption behavior and friendship ties were measured. SES was measured based upon entitlement to an income-tested regular child protection benefit.
Findings
Non-low-SES adolescents were most likely to form friendships with peers from their own SES group [odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02–1.11]. Adolescents adjusted their smoking behavior (OR = 24.05, 95% CI = 1.27–454.86) but not their alcohol consumption (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 0.62–4.39) to follow the behavior of their friends. Smokers did not differ from non-smokers in the likelihood of receiving a friendship nomination (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.87–1.10), regardless of their SES. Alcohol consumers received significantly more friendship nominations than non-consumers (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.01–1.33), but this association was not significantly different according to SES.
Conclusions
Hungarian adolescents appear to prefer friendships within their own socio-economic status group, and smoking and alcohol consumption spread within those friendship networks. Socio-economic groups do not differ in the extent to which they encourage smoking or alcohol consumption.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 488-498 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Addiction |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.
Funding
The authors would like to thank Michael Boissonneault for his useful and constructive comments. This project is founded by Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) (grant number: 2021‐00062). Data collection was founded by Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (grant number: K 81336). Dorottya Kisfalusi is supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (grant number: FK 137765).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Scientific Research Fund | K 81336 |
| Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd | 2021‐00062 |
| Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal | FK 137765 |
Keywords
- Adolescents
- alcohol
- health inequalities
- peers
- smoking
- social influence
- social network
- social selection
- stochastic actor-oriented models
