the complexity of socialization in peer contexts...
TRANSCRIPT
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The Complexity of Socialization in Peer Contexts:
Challenges for Research and Practice
Clea McNeely, DrPH University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Students and Peers as Resources
Youth-Nex 2nd Annual Conference October 18, 2012
University of Virginia
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Ubiquity and Salience of Peer Relationships
§ Early adolescents experience increase in: – novelty and sensation-seeking – importance of peers relative to family – extent to which reward systems activated
by social acceptance
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Outline
§ Complexity of socialization in peer contexts.
§ Implications for intervening on peer relationships.
§ Future research directions.
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Complexity of Peer Contexts
§ Youth are actors in multiple peer contexts § Peer influences are bidirectional and
multidimensional – Best friend – Romantic interest – Clique – Larger peer network – Reputational crowd – Peers grouped by adults – Youth culture
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Complexity of Peer Contexts
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Complexity of Peer Contexts
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The Social Structure of “Countryside” School DistrictPoints Colored by Grade
9th10th11th
7th8th
12th
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Complexity of Peer Contexts
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Complexity of Socialization in Peer Contexts § Direct peer pressure
§ Development of group norms (Coleman, 1961, 1988)
– Through selection and influence
§ Status attainment (McNeely, Falci & Smiler, 2012; Tuenissen et al., 2012)
§ Resource and information channels (Crosnoe, 2004)
§ Social belonging and social support (Laible et al., 2000; McNeely & Falci, 2004)
§ Social network structure (Moody, 2005; Falci & McNeely, 2009)
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Complexity: Socialization Among Peers Varies Across Settings
§ Occurs in multiple settings, e.g., – Classrooms – After-school programs – Lunchrooms and hallways – Hanging out
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Complexity: Peer Socialization Increases and Decreases Risk
§ Both negative and positive outcomes result from the same aspect of socialization within the peer context.
§ Example 1: Social belonging § Example 2: Social cohesion
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Complexity: Example 1 § Peer social belonging increases and decreases
risk
§ Measured in Add Health as: – You feel close to people at your school. – You feel like you are a part of school. – You are happy to be at your school.
§ Associated longitudinally with: – Lower levels of depressive symptoms (Falci &
McNeely, 2009)
– Higher rates of participation in alcohol and cigarette use (McNeely & Falci, 2004)
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Complexity: Example 2
§ Social cohesion associated with greater depressive symptoms in some peer conditions and fewer depressive symptoms under other peer conditions.
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Example 2: Social Cohesion
Large, fragmented ego-‐network
Large, cohesive ego-‐network
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Example 2: Association Between Number of Friends, Social Cohesion, and Depressive
Symptoms: Girls
0.89
0.92
0.95
0.98
1.01
1.04
1.07
1.1
1.13
1.16
1.19
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Dep
ress
ive
Sym
ptom
s (ln
)
Network Size
Girls 1 SD above mean density Girls 1 SD below mean density
OLS models adjust for race/ethnicity, family structure, income, grade
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Example 2: Association Between Number of Friends, Social Cohesion and Depressive
Symptoms: Boys and Girls
0.89
0.92
0.95
0.98
1.01
1.04
1.07
1.1
1.13
1.16
1.19
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Dep
ress
ive
Sym
ptom
s (ln
)
Network Size
Boys 1 SD below mean density Boys 1 SD above mean density
Girls 1 SD above mean density Girls 1 SD below mean density
OLS models adjust for race/ethnicity, family structure, income, grade
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Example 2: Summary of Findings § Social cohesion protective against
depression in large networks for girls but not for boys
§ BUT – social cohesion can also reinforce pro-delinquency norms and increase risk behaviors (e.g., Haynie 2001)
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Harnessing peer socialization processes for interventions is challenging
§ Deviancy training (Dishion, Mccord, Poulin, 1999)
§ Peer acceleration (Valente et al., 2007) – Positive effects accelerated when natural peer group
contained non-users or low-users – Negative outcomes exacerbated when grouped with peers
who had higher rates of using
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Research Implications
§ Humility and caution about trying to directly tap into or manipulate socialization processes in peer contexts.
§ Look for iatrogenic effects for sub-groups and not simply focus on main effects.
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Research Implications
§ Focus on how effective youth development settings indirectly shapes socialization between peers, e.g., – How do the 5 C’s shape the various
mechanisms of peer influence? – To what extent do these effects extend
beyond the effective youth development setting ?
– Do these effects hold across all subgroups?