Network Diffusion In The Spread Of Alcohol Use Among Middle Schoolers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3768163/
The authors of this study studied the effects of network diffusion on the onset of alcohol use among adolescents. They tested 8 hypotheses, most notably that exposure to peers who already drink is predictive of increased risk of an adolescent’s own onset. Other hypotheses included that the effects were stronger for girls and that effects were stronger at higher grades. The results that they found were that while alcohol use and relationships were generally correlated, the specific hypotheses about gender and age groups were not supported. They also found that increased alcohol use was correlated with lower adult supervision.
This is consistent with the network diffusion model in class. Highly connected network clusters allow the spread of new information or, in this case, social practices. Since friendship with an alcohol user is a predictor of alcohol use and vice versa, it is clear that this behavior spreads throughout some clusters, but is not spread far into other clusters. It is also consistent that those who are influenced by connections outside of the school network (by adults, for example), are less likely to use alcohol.