Teen Friendship Networks, Development, and Risky Behavior

The PROSPER study is the premier study of adolescent peer networks in the world. Teen Friendship Networks, Development, and Risky Behavior summarizes the findings of this landmark study of how peer friendship networks influence adolescents' well-being, including alcohol and drug use, mental health problems, and romantic relationships. Introductory chapters explain the theories of adolescent development and network influence, and the elements of peer network science, while the remaining chapters focus on a particular topic or domain of adolescent behavior, bringing together advances in the field across several disciplines.

List of contents

• Section I: Setting the Stage


• Chapter 1: Friendships and Peer Groups in the Teen Years-Our Perspective


• D. Wayne Osgood


• Chapter 2: Overview of the PROSPER Prevention Trial's Rationale, Methods, and Findings: The Context for Friendship Network Study


• Richard Spoth, Lisa M. Schainker, Mark Greenberg, and Janet Welsh


• Chapter 3: Network Methods: Explanations and Issues


• James Moody and D. Wayne Osgood


• Chapter 4: A Descriptive Overview of Social Networks and Behavior Among PROSPER Youth


• Erin Tinney


• Section II: Risky Behaviors, Relationships, and Development


• Chapter 5: Teen Friendships, Networks, and Substance Use


• Daniel T. Ragan and D. Wayne Osgood


• Chapter 6: Does Criminal Justice Contact Alter Friendship Ties?


• Wade C. Jacobsen and Erin Tinney


• Chapter 7: Depression, Isolation, and Self-Harm


• Molly Copeland and Sonja Siennick


• Chapter 8: The Role of Parenting in Shaping the Friendship Context of Adolescent Substance Use


• Kelly L. Rulison, Avery Chahl, and Evelien M. Hoeben


• Chapter 9: Dating, Sexuality, and Adolescent Friendship Networks


• Nayan G. Ramirez, Rose Wesche, and Derek A. Kreager


• Chapter 10: Variation in Network Processes Across Community and School District Contexts


• Cassie McMillan, Daniel Ragan, and Alana Colindres


• Chapter 11: Peer Networks and the Diffusion of Intervention Outcomes


• Kelly L. Rulison and Mark E. Feinberg


• Chapter 12: Genetic Susceptibility to Peers


• Gabriel L. Schlomer, Amanda M. Griffin, H. Harrington Cleveland, and David J. Vandenbergh


• Section III: Discussion and Conclusions


• Chapter 13: Future Directions for Research on Networks and Adolescent Health


• Thomas W. Valente


• Chapter 14: The Growth of Longitudinal Social Network Analysis


• René Veenstra, Teresa Bertogna, and Lydia Laninga-Wijnen


• Chapter 15: Social Capital and Adolescent Development


• Mark Feinberg


• Publications of the PROSPER Peers Project


• PROSPER Peers Project Personnel

About the author

Mark E. Feinberg, PhD, is Research Professor at the Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University and Director of the International Center for Coparenting Policy and Research, The Pennsylvania State University. He has made contributions to theory and research in areas such as co-parenting, sibling relationships, the epidemiology of adolescent behavior problems, and the efficacy of community prevention initiatives. He also developed the evidence-based Family Foundations program to promote positive co-parenting relations.

D. Wayne Osgood, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. His research has focused on peers and risky behavior, time use and offending, crime and the life course, evaluating programs to prevent and reduce delinquency, and quantitative research methods. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, received its Sutherland Award in 2022, and was Lead Editor of the journal

Criminology for 2012–2017.

Summary

The PROSPER study is the premier study of adolescent peer networks in the world, with a scope of over 12,000 youth in 28 school districts, and with 8 annual waves of data collection covering grades 6-12. Research output from the PROSPER study has provided extensive new insights in the areas of adolescent development, risky behaviors, and social networks.

Through the lens of the PROSPER study, Teen Friendship Networks, Development, and Risky Behavior describes the many ways that adolescent friendship networks channel and facilitate the spread of adolescent substance use, delinquent behaviors, mental health problems, educational success, romantic relationships, and future development. Introductory chapters explain the theories of adolescent development and the elements of peer network science. The chapters of the main part of the book each focus on a domain of adolescent behavior, providing background on the topic and highlighting the contribution of the PROSPER study to understanding the way teen friendships operate to promote initiation or diffusion of the behavior or attribute.

With coverage of major themes such as the ways that teens select friends based on particular characteristics or similarity between them, and the ways that friends, once selected, influence each other, as well as discussion of how friendship and network patterns are linked to the uptake and spread of positive prevention messages, Teen Friendship Networks, Development, and Risky Behavior will appeal to researchers and students across several fields.

Additional text

The impetus for this edited volume is the wealth of data that emerged from the ambitious PROSPER (Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) research study. PROSPER was a longitudinal investigation of two cohorts of students in grades 6-12, which incorporated experimental interventions and social network methodologies. Even though the scope of the book is limited to examining substance use, sexual behavior, contact with the criminal justice system, and other problematic adolescent behaviors, it is an ambitious undertaking.

Product details

• Authors: FEINBERG, Mark E. (Research Professor Feinberg
• Assisted by: Mark E. Feinberg (Editor), D. Wayne Osgood (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 05.11.2023
• EAN: 9780197602317
• ISBN: 978-0-19-760231-7
• No. of pages: 408
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > General, dictionaries; PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology, PSYCHOLOGY / Clinical Psychology, PSYCHOLOGY / Developmental / Child, Clinical psychology, Child & developmental psychology, Social, group or collective psychology, Child, developmental and lifespan psychology