Strategies for measuring peer alcohol use within egocentric network analysis

Abstract

Objective

Compare different strategies for measuring perceived peer alcohol use within network research.

Participants

College students (N = 309).

Methods

Collected demographic, personal alcohol use, and egocentric network data. Hierarchical linear regression analyses predicted egos’ drinking behavior (AUDIT-C scores).

Results

Egos’ perceptions of nominated peers’ binge-drinking frequency explained a significant portion of variance in egos’ AUDIT-C scores, over and above perceptions of nominated peers’ frequency/typical quantity of alcohol consumption and important demographic covariates. Using more than three items to assess perceived peer alcohol use did not offer statistically significant improvements and may add unnecessary response burden.

Conclusions

Utilizing the three-item approach (i.e., frequency, quantity, binge-drinking frequency) to assess perceived peer drinking explained more variance in egos’ AUDIT-C scores, as opposed to one- and two-item assessments. Implementing this three-item assessment in egocentric network research can enhance programming efforts targeting reductions in binge drinking among college students within social contexts.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• drinking
• college students
• peer perceptions
• network analysis

Declaration of interests

Role of funding sources

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Texas A&M University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.