University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-1200, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2011 Jul;40(7):875-88. doi: 10.1007/s10964-010-9605-7. Epub 2010 Nov 19.
Adolescents' friendships with other-sex peers serve important developmental functions, but they may also facilitate engagement in problem behavior. This study examines the unique contributions of other-sex friendships and friends' behavior to alcohol use, smoking, and initiation of sexual intercourse among late adolescent girls and boys. A total of 320 adolescents (53% girls; 33% racial/ethnic minorities) provided sociometric nominations of friendships annually in grades 10-12. Friendship networks were derived using social network analysis in each grade. Adolescents and their friends also reported on their alcohol use, smoking, and sexual debut at each assessment. After controlling for demographics, previous problem behavior, and friends' behavior, other-sex friendships in 10th grade were associated with initiation of smoking among girls over the following year, and other-sex friendships in 11th grade were linked with lower levels of subsequent alcohol use among boys. Additionally, friends' smoking and sexual experience in 10th grade predicted the same behaviors for all adolescents over the following year. Other-sex friendships thus appear to serve as a risk context for adolescent girls' smoking and a protective context for adolescent boys' drinking. Promoting mixed-gender activities and friendships among older high school students may be helpful in reducing males' alcohol use, but may need to incorporate additional components to prevent increases in females' smoking.
青少年与异性同伴的友谊具有重要的发展功能，但也可能促进其参与问题行为。本研究考察了异性友谊和朋友的行为对青少年后期女孩和男孩饮酒、吸烟和初次性行为的独特贡献。共有 320 名青少年（53%为女孩；33%为少数族裔）在 10-12 年级每年对友谊进行提名。在每个年级都使用社会网络分析得出友谊网络。青少年及其朋友还在每次评估中报告了他们的饮酒、吸烟和初次性行为。在控制了人口统计学、以前的问题行为和朋友的行为后，10 年级的异性友谊与女孩在接下来的一年中开始吸烟有关，而 11 年级的异性友谊与男孩接下来的饮酒量减少有关。此外，10 年级朋友的吸烟和性经验预测了所有青少年在接下来的一年中同样的行为。因此，异性友谊似乎是女孩吸烟的风险环境，是男孩饮酒的保护环境。在高中高年级促进男女混合活动和友谊可能有助于减少男性的饮酒量，但可能需要加入其他内容，以防止女性吸烟增加。
