Smoke rings: social network analysis of friendship groups, smoking and drug-taking

Social network analysis is applied at the first two time points of a longit udinal study which examines how smoking and drug use in adolescence is asso ciated with social position within peer group structures. One hundred and f ifty secondary second grade students in one school named tip to six best fr iends. This allowed for the categorization of each adolescent as a group me mber, a group peripheral, or a relative isolate. It was found that risk-tak ing behaviour occurred across all social positions. At both time points of the study the behaviour of pupils on the periphery of peer groups reflected both the gender and the behaviour of the groups themselves. At the second time point of the study there were far more pupils on the periphery of risk -taking groups than on the periphery of non-risk taking groups. The relatio nship appears to verify that risk-taking and non-risk-taking behaviour is l earned predominantly in the context of peer clusters, and that risk-taking peer clusters act as a greater focus of influence and selection of peripher al pupils at a key stage in their development than do non-risk-taking peer clusters. Our findings are relevant in the debate about peer pressure in re lation to smoking and drug use.