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Longitudinal Associations Between Other-Sex Close Friends and Alcohol Use is a Between-, Not Within-, Person Process
Amy M Loviska1, Kristine Marceau1, Valerie S Knopik1
1Department of Human Development and Family Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Background:
Adolescents are more likely to use alcohol if close friends are characterized as majority other-sex. The extent to which the association between proportion of other-sex close friends and adolescent alcohol use is directional and/or reciprocal is unclear. Although evidence is mixed for male adolescents, higher proportion of other-sex close friends is associated with increased risk of alcohol use for female adolescents.
Methods:
This study examined whether proportion of other-sex close friends and alcohol use predicted each other longitudinally and if associations differed by sex. Participants were 1021 adolescents (Mage = 12.22 years), 52.20% female, 71.36% White non-Hispanic, from a cohort-sequential study. Adolescent alcohol use was measured via progression on alcohol use milestones. Proportion of other-sex close friends was calculated via adolescent report of their three closest friends' sex. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model tested for reciprocal, longitudinal association between other-sex close friends and alcohol use across six timepoints. Sex differences were examined via a multigroup framework.
Results:
Alcohol use and proportion of other-sex close friends were relatively stable traits, with other-sex close friends' autoregressive accumulation more pronounced at later timepoints. There were no observed concurrent nor cross-lagged associations, indicating no reciprocal association within individuals. However, there was a positive between-person association, wherein adolescents with a higher proportion of other-sex close friends had, on average, greater alcohol involvement.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that the influence of other-sex close friends on alcohol use is a between-, not within-, person process. Thus, theory purporting a within-person reciprocal mechanism may not be pertinent within the context of other-sex close friendships.
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