Associations Between Behavioral Economic Indicators and Risky Drinking Are Moderated by Peer Similarity in Behavioral...

Using peer-driven sampling of young adult social networks, this study examined whether elevated drinking risks among individual participants ("egos") were associated with behavioral economic indicators among adjacent peers in their recruitment chain ("alters"). We hypothesized that having adjacent alters with behavioral economic values indicative of greater drinking risk would elevate individual ego drinking risks and that ego behavioral economic-drinking risk associations would depend on ego-alter correspondence levels of behavioral economic indicators.

Community-dwelling young adults engaged in risky drinking (N = 269; M age = 23.14 years, 68% female) were recruited via respondent-driven sampling, a peer-to-peer referral method. Generalized linear modeling examined whether ego-alter correspondence (degree of similarity between egos and alters on a given behavioral economic index) was associated with ego drinking practices and negative alcohol-related consequences. Analyses also examined whether ego-alter correspondence moderated ego behavioral economic-drinking risk associations.

Interactions partially supported the hypotheses. Higher ego elasticity was associated with lower drinking risks. These associations were weaker when alters' demand was less elastic (ps < .06). Higher ego discretionary spending on alcohol was associated with more negative consequences, and this association was stronger when alters' spending on alcohol was higher (p < .01).

With respect to elasticity and discretionary alcohol spending, harmful alter behavioral economic indicators moderated ego behavioral economic-drinking risk associations. Therefore, individuals affected by social harms may need social network interventions linking them to lower-risk drinking peers. Results highlight the usefulness of socially contextualizing behavioral economic indices.