Associations Between Adolescents’ Perceptions of Alcohol Norms and Alcohol Behaviors: Incorporating Within-school Variability

Abstract

Background Social norm interventions have been implemented in schools to address concerns of alcohol use among high school students; however, research in this area has not incorporated measures of variability that may better reflect the complexity of social influences. Purpose To examine the association between perceived alcohol norms, the student and school-level variability of those norms, and alcohol use behaviors among high school students. Methods A sample of 25,824 students from 58 high schools completed an online self-report survey. Hierarchical linear regression models were fit to examine the relationships between student- and school-level alcohol norm predictors, within school variability, and current alcohol use and binge drinking. Results Individual- and school-level norms were predictive of both current alcohol use and binge drinking. Whereas measures of norm diversity at the school-level were not predictive of alcohol use behaviors, individual norm proximity was predictive of both current alcohol use and binge drinking. Discussion The study findings were both consistent with prior research and support assertions that variability measures should be incorporated into social norms research approaches. Translation to Health Education Practice The findings support the incorporation of student-level variability measures, which could assist in identifying students who are susceptible to peer influence.

Educational level and alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood—The role of social causation and health-related selection—The TRAILS Study

“…We found that lower educational level significantly predicted a stronger escalation in alcohol use in early adolescence only, and not later throughout adolescence and young adulthood. This result may point towards an important role for educational differences in peer group composition and social norms in early adolescence, processes which have been found to be amongst the strongest determinants of underage alcohol use [ 49 ]. Previous research has shown that schools in the lower educational tracks more commonly feature a culture characterized by feelings of futility, poor future prospects, and low self-esteem.…”

Qualitative exploration of the intersection between social influences and cultural norms in relation to the development of alcohol use behaviour during adolescence

“…Perceptions of the consensus view in a group, or collective norms, influence conformity, since the more consensual the group, the more isolated the ‘deviant’ and the more powerful the group in shaping the social space. In this way, alcohol use behaviour can be influenced by perceived descriptive norms (the perceived prevalence of alcohol consumption) and injunctive norms (the perceived approval of alcohol use) among young people and both have been shown to influence adolescent alcohol use at the individual and group level 27 28…”

Differences in Adolescents’ Alcohol Use and Smoking Behavior between Educational Tracks: Do Popularity Norms Matter?

“…Future research could illuminate additional factors such as school climate (cf. François et al, 2017 ) or the strength of the popularity hierarchy (e.g., accessibility of popularity status; Laninga-Wijnen et al, 2019 ) within a classroom. These factors could underlie classroom differences in reputational salience of risk behavior as well as differences in alcohol use and smoking behavior.…”

“…Thus far, explanations for these educational differences have often been sought in the family context such as parenting behavior (De Looze et al, 2017 ) and family background (Hiscock et al, 2012 ) but overlooked the classroom context. Given that adolescents spend most of their time at school and in their classroom, it is likely that characteristics of this context contribute significantly to adolescents’ alcohol use and smoking (François et al, 2017 ). Particular popular peers in classrooms set a norm (popularity norm; Laninga‐Wijnen et al, 2017 ) given their heightened power and visibility in the peer group (Rambaran et al, 2013 ).…”