The Effect of Friends’ Drug Treatment on One’s Substance Use: A Network Perspective

• In Event: Peers, Peer Groups, and Delinquency

Abstract

Peer influence is a well-studied phenomenon, and the results from peer influence research indicate that an individual can have a positive effect on other members in their group. Research on drug treatment suggests that an individual’s social network can serve as an important influence in the initiation of treatment for drug use as well as maintaining positive outcomes from such treatment. However, little is known about the effects that an individual’s participation in a drug treatment program has on alcohol and substance use levels among the other members in their social network. I use two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine whether an individual’s participation in a drug treatment program at wave 1 reduces the levels of alcohol and substance use of others within their social network at wave 2.

Authors

• Dallin Everett, Brigham Young University

• Carter Rees, Brigham Young University