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Drug and alcohol consumption linked to popularity in adolescents
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Popular adolescents are more likely to consume larger amounts of alcohol and drugs than their less popular peers, according to study results announced in a press release.
“Our study highlights a correlation between popularity and consumption,” Jean-Sébastien Fallu, PhD, lead researcher and professor at the Université de Montréal’s School of Psychoeducation, said in the release. “The teenagers we studied were well-accepted, very sensitive to social codes and understood the compromises that it takes to be popular.”
Fallu and colleagues surveyed more than 500 French-speaking students at three life stages: ages 10 to 11 years, 12 to 13 years and 14 to 15 years. Researchers recorded the popularity of the student and his or her friends, plus the amount of alcohol, marijuana and hard drugs consumed, according to the release. Populairty was rated with peer preference scores derived from surveys in which students selected the classmates they liked most and least.
Consumption increased with age for all participants, regardless of their popularity level. However, the more popular students were more likely to consume greater amounts of alcohol and drugs. Between the ages of 10 and 15 years, consumption doubled for popular students with popular friends; this trend was not seen in popular students with friends who were not as popular, according to the release.
“Teenagers don’t consume to belong to the group or to increase their popularity level, they do it to remain well-liked,” Fallu said in the release. “It’s more about keeping their status than increasing it.”
Less popular children, although not as at great of a risk for alcohol or drug use, are at risk for other deviant behaviors, including violence, according to the release.
The study will be published in 2011 as part of a collective work.
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