Where It's At! The Role of Best Friends and Peer Group Members in Young Adults' Alcohol Use

  1. Geertjan Overbeek1,
  2. Sander M. Bot1,
  3. Wim H. J. Meeus1,
  4. Miranda Sentse2,
  5. Ronald A. Knibbe3,
  6. Rutger Engels4

Article first published online: 14 OCT 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00696.x

Issue

Journal of Research on Adolescence

Journal of Research on Adolescence

Volume 21, Issue 3, pages 631–638, September 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Overbeek, G., Bot, S. M., Meeus, W. H. J., Sentse, M., Knibbe, R. A. and Engels, R. (2011), Where It's At! The Role of Best Friends and Peer Group Members in Young Adults' Alcohol Use. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21: 631–638. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00696.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Utrecht University

  2. 2

    Groningen University

  3. 3

    Maastricht University

  4. 4

    Radboud University Nijmegen

*Requests for reprints should be sent to Geertjan Overbeek, Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80140, 3508 TC—Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: g.overbeek@uu.nl

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 11 AUG 2011
  2. Article first published online: 14 OCT 2010

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We examined the hypothesis that best friends and members from a broader peer group would not differ in the amount of influence they have on young adults' alcohol consumption and that what counts would be the mere presence of drinking peers in a given context—irrespective of the type of relationship such peers would have with the target young adult. Data were used from a naturalistic observation study that was conducted in a “bar-lab” among 221 young adults aged 18–25 years. Both hierarchical and multilevel regression analyses showed that group effects (i.e., average group levels of alcohol consumption) explained young adults' drinking. When taking into account these group effects, best friends' alcohol consumption in the bar-lab was a nonsignificant predictor of young adults' alcohol use—although best friends' questionnaire-assessed drinking did predict alcohol consumption in the bar-lab.

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