Reciprocal Peer Network Processes on Substance Use and Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence: Analysis from a Longitudinal Youth Cohort Study

Disentangling associations between pubertal development, healthy activity behaviors, and sex in adolescent social networks

“…We extend their efforts with a more precise statistical social network approach able to analyze cross-gender relationships and health behavior confounders while accounting for statistical dependence between linked observations. Our work also comports more closely with the statistical network research of Franken and colleagues [ 19 ] who found that Dutch youth with similar pubertal development tended to be friends, rather than that of Lee and colleagues [ 24 ] who found no support for friendship based on pubertal development similarity among Taiwan youth. We would speculate that US-based youths’ affinities with the Dutch case might owe more to youth socialization and friendship norms in Western societies rather than intercultural differences in pubertal timing, though more research is needed to assess this.…”

“…As such, the goals of this study are to: (1) determine the extent to which pubertal development and activity behaviors (physical activity and sleep) may independently be associated with social relationships among friends using exponential random graph modeling, a form of network analysis which is able to account for correlated observations between individuals, and (2) to discern how these associations may vary by sex. The idea that pubertal development and activity behaviors may be patterned within adolescent friendship networks is supported by a small but growing body of evidence from the landmark U.S.-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) study [ 23 ], as well as international cohort studies [ 19 , 24 ]. Knowing of similar pubertal timing within friendship groups may offer inclusive opportunities for tailored developmental puberty education in ways that reduce stigma by normalizing conversations about physical and physiological changes during adolescence with trusted adults.…”

“…The authors found that youth who had similar physical development were more likely to form friendships with one another, and that physically more advanced were more likely to retain friendships with students who engaged in similar externalizing behaviors. A separate longitudinal three year network-behavior study of Taiwanese youths’ substance use and network change (grades 7 to 9, age μ = 12.3) gathered information on the Pubertal Development Scale to ascertain whether youth were on-time, early, or late relative to peers [ 24 ]. The authors did not observe either selection or network influence effects on pubertal development.…”