Peer influence in adolescent drinking behavior: A meta-analysis of stochastic actor-based modeling studies.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the effects of peer influence and peer selection on drinking behavior in adolescence through a rigorous statistical approach designed to unravel these interrelated processes. METHODS: We conducted systematic searches of electronic databases, thesis collections and conference proceedings to identify studies that used longitudinal network design and stochastic actor-oriented modeling to analyze drinking behavior in adolescents. Parameter estimates collected from individual studies were analyzed using multilevel random-effects models. RESULTS: We identified 26 articles eligible for meta-analysis. Meta-analyses for different specifications of the peer influence effect were conducted separately. The peer influence effect was positive for every specification: for average similarity (avSim) mean log odds ratio was 1.27 with 95% confidence interval [0.04; 2.49]; for total similarity (totSim) 0.46 (95% CI = [0.44; 0.48]), and for average alter (avAlt) 0.70 (95% CI = [-0.01; 1.41]). The peer selection effect (simX) was also positive: 0.46 (95% CI = [0.28; 0.63]). Conversion log odds ratio values to Cohen's d gives estimates from 0.25 to 0.70, which is considered as medium to large effect. CONCLUSIONS: Advances in methodology for social network analysis have made it possible to accurately estimate peer influence effects free from peer selection effects. More research is necessary to clarify the roles of age, gender, and individual susceptibility on the changing behavior of adolescents under the influence of their peers. Understanding the effects of peer influence should inform practitioners and policy makers to design and deliver more effective prevention programs.

Sustainability of Tailored Goal Oriented Community Brief Intervention Model among risky drinkers in community in Thailand.

Tailored Goal Oriented Community Brief Intervention Model (TGCBI), first implemented as culturally secure and acceptable to communities in Thailand, is designed in 2 stages or levels: community level, a culturally secure approach to motivate participants to reconsider their drinking behavior; individual level, involved in the key messages received from the community level together with additional input focused towards individuals. TGCBI's effectiveness was measured by the number of abstinent drinkers and number of alcohol-free months among those who continued to drink at followup in two communities that originally had high prevalence of risky drinking. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to investigate the intervention effect. Results indicated that the number of participants who stopped drinking 6 months later and the number of alcohol-free months during followup were significantly greater (P < 0.05) for 47 participants in the intervention group compared to the control group (n = 50). TGCBI results in sustainable drinking cessation.