istockphoto
Guhn and his team looked at whether the combination of high levels of bullying and low levels of adult as well as peer support have a multiplicative negative effect on children’s well-being. [continue reading…]
Peer Pressure
New research by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers looks at the specific ways parents and peers influence teenagers to smoke, drink and use marijuana in combination. Among their findings: attitudes toward smoking influenced teenagers’ use of multiple drugs (smoking, drinking and marijuana), and that this manifested itself differently in boys and girls. [continue reading…]
Smoking rates among teenagers can be reduced by training influential students within secondary schools to promote anti-smoking messages in their everyday conversations with their friends and peer group. This is the conclusion of authors of an article in this week’s edition of The Lancet.
Whether or not a young person smokes is strongly associated with their friends’ smoking behaviour. Peer pressure is often used to explain this finding, although evidence suggests that peer selection, whereby young people choose to associate with like-minded people engaging in similar behaviours, is also a cause. However, peer influence can be protective, leading to attempts to harness it to positive effect through peer education. [continue reading…]
