Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53715, USA.
Acad Pediatr. 2011 Sep-Oct;11(5):414-21. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2011.05.005. Epub 2011 Jul 26.
Early adolescent alcohol use is a major public health problem. Drinking before the 14th birthday is associated with a fourfold increase in risk of alcohol dependence in adulthood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between adolescent social network characteristics and alcohol initiation prospectively over time.
The study analyzes data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative survey of 7th- through 11th-grade students enrolled between 1995 and 1996. Generalized estimating equations are used to model the risk of alcohol use initiation at 1-year follow-up among nondrinkers at wave 1 of the study.
Both an adolescent's friends' alcohol use and the adolescent's social network characteristics displayed an independent main effect on alcohol initiation. In comparison with abstainers, alcohol initiators had more popular friends as measured by more peer nominations as friends (indegree) and having more friends up to 3 steps removed (3-step reach), and more friends who drank. An adolescent's risk of alcohol use onset increased 13% (95% CI, 4%-22%) for every additional friend with high indegree, 3% (95% CI, 0.3%-6%) for every additional 10 friends within 3-step reach, and 34% (95% CI, 14%-58%) for each additional friend who drank alcohol, and after controlling for confounders.
The findings suggest that, in addition to well-established demographic risk factors, adolescents are at heightened risk of alcohol use onset because of their position in the social network in relationship to their friends and the friends of their friends.
青少年早期饮酒是一个主要的公共卫生问题。14 岁之前饮酒会使成年后患酒精依赖的风险增加四倍。本研究的目的是评估青少年社会网络特征与青少年饮酒的前瞻性关联。
该研究分析了全国青少年健康纵向研究的数据，这是一项对 1995 年至 1996 年期间入学的 7 至 11 年级学生进行的全国代表性调查。使用广义估计方程来模拟在研究的第 1 波中未饮酒者在 1 年随访时的饮酒起始风险。
青少年朋友的饮酒情况和青少年的社会网络特征都对饮酒起始有独立的主要影响。与不饮酒者相比，饮酒者的朋友更多（通过更多的同伴提名作为朋友[入度]和拥有多达 3 个步骤的朋友[3 步触及]），而且更多的朋友饮酒。与无饮酒者相比，青少年饮酒的风险增加了 13%（95%可信区间，4%-22%），每个额外的高入度朋友增加 13%，每个额外的 10 个 3 步触及的朋友增加 3%（95%可信区间，0.3%-6%），每个额外的饮酒朋友增加 34%（95%可信区间，14%-58%），且在控制了混杂因素后。
这些发现表明，除了已确立的人口统计学风险因素外，青少年由于其与朋友及其朋友的朋友的社会网络关系中的地位，处于饮酒风险增加的状态。
