Best Friend Influence Over Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Socialized by the Satisfied

Abstract

Objective The present study was designed to examine best friend influence over alcohol intoxication and truancy as a function of relative perceptions of friendship satisfaction. Method The participants were 700 adolescents (306 boys, 394 girls) who were involved in same-sex best friendships that were stable from one academic year to the next. Participants completed self-report measures of alcohol intoxication frequency and truancy at one year intervals. Each member of each friendship dyad also rated his or her satisfaction with the relationship. At the outset, participants were in secondary school (approximately 13-14 years old) or high school (approximately 16-17 years old). Results More satisfied friends had greater influence than less satisfied friends over changes in intoxication frequency and truancy. Problem behaviors of less satisfied friends increased over time if the more satisfied friend reported relatively higher, but not relatively lower, initial levels of drinking or truancy. Conclusions The results support the hypothesis that adolescent friends are not similarly influential. The power to socialize, for better and for worse, rests with the partner who has a more positive perception of the relationship.

Dyadic instruction for middle school students: Liking promotes learning

“…Our findings are consistent with studies indicating that friends learn more in a collaborative environment than nonfriends (MacDonald et al, 2002; Miell & MacDonald, 2000). Our findings are also in line with recent evidence that influence over school behaviors depends on friends’ relative attitude toward the relationship, such that the friend who has a more positive view of the relationship influences changes in his or her friends’ behavior in school (Hiatt, Laursen, Kerr, & Stattin, in press). As such, they offer further support for the view that working with friends is an advantage, not a liability.…”

“…Influence is unlikely to be equally shared between friends within a dyad. For instance, we know that confidence and initial knowledge impact who is more greatly influenced within a dyad (DeLay et al, 2014), as do perceptions of the quality of friendship (Hiatt, Laursen, Kerr, & Stattin, in press). Children did not select friends, but instead expressed a preference for partners to teachers who assigned them to pairs, then rated the degree to which they liked their assigned partner.…”

Binge drinking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions

“…For example, similar to the child-parent relationship, the impact of friends on own binge drinking over time was moderated by friendship quality, i.e. the closer the relationship the higher the impact (Guo et al, 2015;Hiatt, Laursen, Stattin, & Kerr, 2015;Leung et al, 2014). Like the sibling effect, peer influence was found to be stronger among adolescents from dysfunctional families than among those with a good parent-child relationship and close parental monitoring (Leung et al, 2014).…”

Adolescents’ perceived mattering to parents and friends: Testing cross-lagged associations with psychosocial well-being

“…That is, feeling a sense of mattering to friends may promote a desire to become more similar to friends. Research on perceptions of friendships suggests that partners who view the relationship more positively tend to be more powerful socializers (Hiatt, Laursen, Stattin, & Kerr, 2017). Actor–partner research designs which can evaluate perceptions between friends would clarify whether mattering contributes to efforts to become similar to friends.…”