Helle Larsen

h.larsen@pwo.ru.nl

Title project:
‘Experimental Observational Studies on Peer Influence Processes and Alcohol Consumption’

Abstract:
Reviews of theories on adolescent’s substance use state that peer influences are the most consistent and strongest factor in the initiation and maintenance of substance use (Harris, 1995; Petraitis, Flay & Miller, 1995). When young people are in the company of drinking peers, they tend to imitatetheir peers’ drinking behaviors. However, recent longitudinal survey research does not provide convincing evidence that adolescents are highly susceptible to peer influences on alcohol use as predictions are quite weak. We believe that observational methods that capture the dynamics of peer interactions are more suitable to test the effect of peers on individual drinking. This project examines the conditions under which people imitate peer behavior by employing an experimental observational paradigm in which youngsters are confronted with peer drinking in a naturalistic context; a bar lab. To assess interaction patterns that develop over time, we use the state space grid method (see Lewis et al., 1999).