A new study examined the extent to which personal social networks change during the transition from high school to college and how changes in the composition of these networks are related to alcohol use. Participants (N = 374) were part of a longitudinal study of incoming college students from three different universities and were recruited before the beginning of their first year. The baseline data (T1) consisting of assessments were obtained before student’s arrival on campus. At the end of the first year (T2), participants completed the second assessments. Other than the demographic characteristics obtained at baseline, the following information was obtained during both assessment points. Graduated Frequency for Alcohol, which derived the maximum number of drinks consumed in the past year, frequency of drinking several different quantities of alcohol and number of drinking and heavy drinking days per month. Young Adult Alcohol Problems Screening Test (YYAPST), from which total number of negative consequences experienced in the past year was derived. Important People and Activities Instrument, in which participants filled in people who were important to them during the past year, demographic characteristics along with first name and last initials, type and length of their relationship as well as drinking frequency and maximum drinking quantity of each network member. The authors conducted dependent samples t-tests and chi-square tests to examine the differences in network composition from T1 to T2. Correlations were calculated for respondents’ alcohol use, the composition of social networks and network turnover between T1 and T2. Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to examine the differences in personal alcohol use between participants who named at least one parent from those who did not. In addition, regression analyses were conducted to examine the interaction between the number of unique members in the network and their alcohol use on participant alcohol use. Overall, results indicated that alcohol use increased from T1 to T2 (all ps <.001). The total number of people identified in the network from T1 to T2 did not differ, (p = .36) however, parents were less likely than friends to be listed as network members at T2 compared to T1 (p < .001). Furthermore, the number of friends in the network at T1 was negatively associated with participant number of drinking days (p < .05) and heavy drinking days during that time (p< .05), however, the number of friends T1 was positively associated with greater maximum alcohol consumption at T2 (p < .05). Also, participants at T1 without a parent in their network had a greater number of heavy drinking days in the past month and had higher maximum quantities than those who named at least one parent in their network. There were no cross-sectional differences in drinking and alcohol consequences between those at T2 who had a parent in their network and those who did not. In addition, respondent alcohol use was unrelated to the number of carryover, number dropped, and number added at both time points. However, the number of members added was negatively related to the number of alcohol related consequences at T1 (p< .05) but positively related to the changes in the number of alcohol consequences at T2 (p < .05).
Take away: This study found that heavy drinking in high school is associated with retaining more friends during the transition to college, but once in college, adding more people who drink heavily in one’s social network is associated with higher alcohol use risk.