Alcohol Perceptions and Behavior in a Residential Peer Social Network

Personalized normative feedback is a recommended component of alcohol interventions targeting college students. However, normative data are commonly collected through campus-based surveys, not through actual participant-referent relationships. In the present investigation, we examined how misperceptions of residence hall peers, both overall using a global question and those designated as important peers using person-specific questions, were related to students’ personal drinking behaviors. Participants were 108 students (88% freshman, 54% White, 51% female) residing in a single campus residence hall. Participants completed an online baseline survey in which they reported their own alcohol use and perceptions of peer alcohol use using both an individual peer network measure and a global peer perception measure of their residential peers. We employed network autocorrelation models, which account for the inherent correlation between observations, to test hypotheses. Overall, participants accurately perceived the drinking of nominated friends but overestimated the drinking of residential peers. Consistent with hypotheses, overestimating nominated friend and global residential peer drinking predicted higher personal drinking, although perception of nominated peers was a stronger predictor. Interaction analyses showed that the relationship between global misperception and participant self-reported drinking was significant for heavy drinkers, but not non-heavy drinkers. The current findings explicate how student perceptions of peer drinking within an established social network influence drinking behaviors, which may be used to enhance the effectiveness of normative feedback interventions

Strategic Players for Identifying Optimal Social Network Intervention Subjects

We present a method whereby social network ties are used to identify behavioral leaders who are situated in the network such that these individuals are: 1) able to influence other individuals who are in need of and most receptive to intervention, thereby optimizing the impact of the intervention; and 2) not embedded with ties to individuals that are likely to be behaviorally antagonistic to the intervention or that would compromise the optimal impact of intervention. In this study we developed a method that we call Strategic Players, which is a solution for identifying a set of players who are close to a target subset of the network (i.e., the target group), and far away from the subset we wish to avoid (i.e. the avoid group), where the proximity to either the target or avoid group may be facilitated by network members who are in neither group (i.e. the neutral group). This solution seeks to maximize the diffusion of the behavior to the target group while minimizing contact and influence to the avoid group. We apply this method to two different social networks, and one simulated social network

Bayesian Peer Calibration with Application to Alcohol Use

Peers are often able to provide important additional information to supplement self-reported behavioral measures. The study motivating this work collected data on alcohol in a social network formed by college students living in a freshman dormitory. By using two imperfect sources of information (self-reported and peer-reported alcohol consumption), rather than solely self-reports or peer-reports, we are able to gain insight into alcohol consumption on both the population and the individual level, as well as information on the discrepancy of individual peer-reports. We develop a novel Bayesian comparative calibration model for continuous, count and binary outcomes that uses covariate information to characterize the joint distribution of both self and peer-reports on the network for estimating peer-reporting discrepancies in network surveys, and apply this to the data for fully Bayesian inference. We use this model to understand the effects of covariates on both drinking behavior and peer-reporting discrepancies

Fixed Choice Design and Augmented Fixed Choice Design for Network Data with Missing Observations

The statistical analysis of social networks is increasingly used to understand social processes and patterns. The association between social relationships and individual behaviors is of particular interest to sociologists, psychologists, and public health researchers. Several recent network studies make use of the fixed choice design (FCD), which induces missing edges in the network data. Because of the complex dependence structure inherent in networks, missing data can pose very difficult problems for valid statistical inference. In this article, we introduce novel methods for accounting for the FCD censoring and introduce a new survey design, which we call the augmented fixed choice design (AFCD). The AFCD adds considerable information to analyses without unduly burdening the survey respondent, resulting in improvements over the FCD, and other existing estimators. We demonstrate this new method through simulation studies and an analysis of alcohol use in a network of undergraduate students living in a residence hall

Misreporting in a randomized clinical trial for smoking cessation in adolescents

Introduction: Misreporting smoking behavior is common among younger smokers participating in clinical trials for smoking cessation. This study focused on the prevalence of and factors associated with adolescent misreporting of smoking behaviors within the context of a randomized clinical trial for smoking cessation. Methods: Adolescent smokers (N = 129) participated in a randomized clinical trial that compared two brief interventions for smoking cessation. Following the final (6-month) follow-up, a confidential, self-administered exit questionnaire examined the extent to which participants admitted to having misreported smoking quantity, frequency and/or consequences during the study. Factors associated with under- and over-reporting were compared to accurate-reporting. Results: One in 4 adolescent smokers (25.6%) admitted to under-reporting during the study and 14.7% admitted to over-reporting; 10.9% of the adolescents admitted to both under- and over-reporting. Rates of admitted misreporting did not differ between treatment conditions or recruitment site. Compared to accurate-reporting, under- and over-reporting were significantly associated with home smoking environment and the belief among adolescents that the baseline interviewer wanted them to report smoking more or less than they actually smoked. Compared to accurate reporters, over-reporters were more likely to be non-White and to report being concerned with the confidentiality of their responses. Conclusions: A post-study confidential debriefing questionnaire can be a useful tool for estimating rates of misreporting and examining whether potential differences in misreporting might bias the interpretation of treatment effects. Future studies are needed to thoroughly examine potentially addressable reasons that adolescents misreport their smoking behavior and to develop methods for reducing misreporting

Behavioral economic approaches to reduce college student drinking

Abstract There is a need for novel, theory-based approaches to reduce heavy drinking on college campuses. Behavioral economics has guided basic laboratory research on drug administration for over 30 years and has recently been applied to human substance use in naturalistic and clinical settings. This paper provides an introduction to behavioral economics, reviews applications of behavioral economics to college student drinking, and describes prevention and intervention strategies that are consistent with behavioral economic theory. Behavioral economic theory predicts that college students' decisions about drinking are related to the relative availability and price of alcohol, the relative availability and price of substance-free alternative activities, and the extent to which reinforcement from delayed substance-free outcomes is devalued relative to the immediate reinforcement associated with drinking. Measures of problem severity are based on resource allocation towards alcohol and the relative value of alcohol compared to other reinforcers. Policy and individual level prevention approaches that are consistent with behavioral economic theory are discussed, including strategies for increasing the behavioral and monetary price of alcohol, increasing engagement in rewarding alternatives to substance use, and counteracting student drinkers' tendency to overvalue immediate relative to delayed rewards

Motivational interviewing to reduce substance-related consequences: Effects for incarcerated adolescents with depressed mood

Background: The impact of depressed mood on Motivational Interviewing (MI) to reduce risky behaviors and consequences in incarcerated adolescents was examined in this brief report. Methods: Adolescents (N = 189) were randomly assigned to receive MI or Relaxation Training (RT). Results: At 3-month follow-up assessment, MI significantly reduced risks associated with marijuana use, with a trend towards reducing risks associated with alcohol use. There was also a trend for depressive symptoms to be associated with reduced risks after release. Interaction effects were non-significant, indicating no moderating effects for depressed mood on treatment outcome. Conclusions: MI may be a useful treatment for incarcerated adolescents in order to reduce risks and consequences associated with substance use after release

Randomized Clinical Trial of Motivational Enhancement of Substance Use Treatment Among Incarcerated Adolescents: Post-Release Condom Non-Use

Evaluated impact of motivational enhancement (ME) of substance abuse treatment compared to relaxation training (RT) on sex without condoms (overall and involving substance use) 3 months following release among incarcerated adolescents. This randomized clinical trial involved 114 incarcerated adolescents from the Northeast. Regression analyses determined if treatment condition, baseline levels of depressive symptoms, and their interaction predicted condom non-use 3 months post-release, controlling for baseline condom non-use. Among those who reported fewer baseline depressive symptoms, those in ME condition reported significantly less condom non-use, in general and involving marijuana use compared with those in RT condition. Periods of incarceration represent opportunities to help juvenile detainees reduce behaviors that impact their health and the health of those with whom they interact in the community

Identification and Description of Potentially Influential Social Network Members using the Strategic Player Approach

Background: Diffusion of innovations theory posits that ideas and behaviors can be spread through social network ties. In intervention work, intervening upon certain network members may lead to intervention effects “diffusing” into the network to affect the behavior of network members who did not receive the intervention. The strategic players (SP) method, an extension of Borgatti’s Key Players approach, is used to balance the (sometimes) opposing goals of spreading the intervention to as many members of the target group as possible, while preventing the spread of the intervention to others. Objectives: We sought to test whether members of the SP set have network position and non-network differences (such as demographic, attitudinal, or behavioral differences) compared to the remaining members of the target group (non-SPs). Methods: A first-year class at a private residential university (N = 1342) completed network and non-network measures. Analyses were restricted only to heavy drinkers, leading to a final analytic sample of 529. Results: SPs and non-SPs differed on multiple network variables, but did not differ on most demographic, attitudinal, and behavior variables. Conclusions: As designed, the SP program identified participants who were distinguished by their network position. The fact that they did not also differ on other characteristics shows the SPs are not significantly different than heavy drinkers who were not selected