Peer Network Processes in Adolescents' Health Lifestyles

Group-based lifestyles offer individuals a lens for making behavioral decisions. But how do lifestyles arise and change? We propose that friendship networks shape lifestyles, while simultaneously being a product of lifestyles. Combining theories of health lifestyles—interrelated health behaviors arising from group-based identities—with network and behavior change, we examined influence and selection processes between friendship networks and health lifestyles. We analyzed two high schools with longitudinal, complete friendship network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Latent class analyses characterized each school’s predominant health lifestyles based on several health behavior domains. School-specific stochastic actor-based models (SABMs) evaluated the bidirectional relationship between friendship networks and health lifestyles. Predominant lifestyles remained stable within schools over time, even as individuals transitioned between lifestyles. In both schools, friends displayed more similarity in health lifestyles than other peers, and this similarity resulted primarily from selection, but also from influence processes.

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Peer Network Processes in Adolescents’ Health Lifestyles

Journal of Health and Social Behavior ◽

10.1177/00221465211054394 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002214652110543

Author(s):

jimi adams ◽

Elizabeth M. Lawrence ◽

Joshua A. Goode ◽

David R. Schaefer ◽

Stefanie Mollborn

Keyword(s):

Latent Class ◽

Friendship Networks ◽

Adult Health ◽

Network Characteristics ◽

Health Lifestyles ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Peer Network ◽

Bidirectional Relationship ◽

And Behavior

Combining theories of health lifestyles—interrelated health behaviors arising from group-based identities—with those of network and behavior change, we investigated network characteristics of health lifestyles and the role of influence and selection processes underlying these characteristics. We examined these questions in two high schools using longitudinal, complete friendship network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Latent class analyses characterized each school’s predominant health lifestyles using several health behavior domains. School-specific stochastic actor-based models evaluated the bidirectional relationship between friendship networks and health lifestyles. Predominant lifestyles remained stable within schools over time, even as individuals transitioned between lifestyles. Friends displayed greater similarity in health lifestyles than nonfriend dyads. Similarities resulted primarily from teens’ selection of friends with similar lifestyles but also from teens influencing their peers’ lifestyles. This study demonstrates the salience of health lifestyles for adolescent development and friendship networks.

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Health Lifestyles in Adolescence and Self-rated Health into Adulthood

Journal of Health and Social Behavior ◽

10.1177/0022146517735313 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 520-536 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Amy M. Burdette ◽

Belinda L. Needham ◽

Miles G. Taylor ◽

Terrence D. Hill

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Life Course ◽

Physical Health ◽

Latent Class ◽

Life Course Perspective ◽

Low Risk ◽

Adult Health ◽

Moderate Risk ◽

Health Lifestyles ◽

Health Lifestyle

Do health behaviors cluster together as health lifestyles in adolescence? Are these lifestyles socially patterned? Do these lifestyles impact physical health into adulthood? To answer these questions, we employed data from Waves 1 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( n = 7,827). Our latent class analysis revealed four health lifestyles: (a) low risk, (b) moderate risk with substance use, (c) moderate risk with inactivity, and (d) high risk. As suggested by health lifestyle theory, membership in these classes varied according to gender, race-ethnicity, and family structure. Consistent with the life course perspective, regression analyses indicated that those in the high-risk lifestyle tend to exhibit worse health in adolescence and adulthood than those in the low-risk lifestyle. Our findings confirm that socially patterned lifestyles can be observed in adolescence, and these lifestyles are potentially important for understanding the distribution of physical health across the early life course.

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Family, Peer, and School Influences on Children’s Developing Health Lifestyles

Journal of Health and Social Behavior ◽

10.1177/0022146517750637 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 133-150 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Stefanie Mollborn ◽

Elizabeth Lawrence

Keyword(s):

Latent Class ◽

Family Factors ◽

Peer Influences ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Multivariate Models ◽

Dynamic Nature ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Health Lifestyles ◽

Health Lifestyle ◽

Latent Class Analyses

Health lifestyles are important for health and social identity, yet little is known about their development in early life. We use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort of 1998–99 (ECLS-K; N = 8,786) to track children’s health lifestyles and assess a theoretical model of health lifestyle development. Latent class analyses identify health lifestyles at four time points from first to eighth grade, and multivariate models investigate their interrelationships and social contextual influences. Health lifestyles are multidimensional and dynamic, and children demonstrate distinct combinations of risks and protections. Family factors, such as resources and parenting, shape earlier health lifestyles, which influence later lifestyles. Results show that development and contexts drive changes in health lifestyles, as family factors decrease in influence with age while some school and peer influences appear to emerge. Policy makers and researchers interested in shaping health behaviors should consider the multidimensional and dynamic nature of health lifestyles.

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Co-Occurrence of Online and Offline Victimization: A Latent Class Analysis in University Students

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci11010016 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 16

Author(s):

Josep-Maria Tamarit-Sumalla ◽

Claudia Malpica-Lander ◽

Victòria Fernández-Cruz

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Latent Class ◽

Property Crime ◽

Prevention Strategies ◽

Online Interactions ◽

Theoretical Approaches ◽

Latent Class Analyses ◽

Empirical Ground ◽

And Behavior ◽

University Undergraduates

Most people are exposed to risks both in the online and offline world. Several studies have provided definitions and measures of cybervictimization based on different theoretical approaches and most of them have focused on specific forms of cybercrime, depicting a limited portrayal of victimization. The current study explored victimization configurations in a sample of 749 university undergraduates from Spain (61.6% women; M age = 26.9), utilizing latent class analyses to account for the nature and frequency of various types of online and offline victimization along their life span. Among them, 35.9% were victims of a cyberattack, 24.4% reported being victims of cyberfraud and 49% of property crime. The analysis uncovered two classes of cybervictims—consisting of economic cybervictimization (victims of economic cybercrimes only) and cyber-polyvictimization (victims of various types of cybercrimes)—and allowed us to compare them with a group of non-victims. Younger respondents (15 to 25 years old), conventional university students, women, people with lower incomes and LGBTQI+ individuals have a higher representation in the cyber-polyvictimization class. In addition, members of this class have suffered more offline victimization in all the areas analyzed. The present study has found co-occurrence between online and offline victimization, thus reinforcing the relevance of simultaneously studying both areas and the interaction between them. From this empirical ground, prevention strategies should not be focused merely on opportunity factors related to the online interactions and behavior of potential victims, without facing the deep human and social roots of victimization.

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Does the Residential Landscape Contextualize Friendships? Examining the Causes and Consequences of Affiliating with Older Friends

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0022427819900644 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 571-611

Author(s):

Alexis Yohros ◽

Gregory M. Zimmerman

Keyword(s):

Linear Models ◽

Mentoring Program ◽

Friendship Networks ◽

Adult Health ◽

Friendship Network ◽

Age Composition ◽

Structural Disadvantage ◽

Program Evaluations ◽

Violent Offending ◽

Network Composition

Objectives: Examine the relationships among structural disadvantage, friendship network age composition, and violent offending by investigating the contextual and individual etiology of affiliating with older friends and exploring the mechanisms that link friendship network age composition to violent offending. Method: Hierarchical linear models analyze 8,481 respondents distributed across 1,485 census tracts from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Social network data are used to construct a measure of the proportion of a respondent’s friendship network that is at least one grade older than the respondent. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, structural disadvantage increases affiliations with older friends, older friendship networks report higher levels of violence, and affiliating with older friends increases violence among respondents. Contrary to expectations, the influence of affiliating with older friends on respondent violence decreases, rather than increases, as levels of violence in the friendship network increase. Conclusions: The results shed light on the inextricable linkages among social context, friendship network composition, and sociobehavioral outcomes among youth. The findings inform peer mentoring program evaluations observing iatrogenic effects via peer deviancy.

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Primary students’ conceptions of the Earth: Re-examining a fundamental research hypothesis on mental models

Preschool and Primary Education ◽

10.12681/ppej.14210 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Julie Vaiopoulou ◽

George Papageorgiou

Keyword(s):

Statistical Analysis ◽

Mental Models ◽

Latent Class ◽

Theoretical Perspective ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Primary Students ◽

Latent Class Analyses ◽

The Earth ◽

Definite Answer ◽

Fundamental Research

Research on pupils’ conceptions of the earth has proposed certain mental models within the theoretical perspective known as coherent or theory-like knowledge. Alternatively, the fragmented knowledge hypothesis refutes the existence of such models and proposes a different perspective. Although the relevant discussion has not been converged in to a definite answer, recently, the debate between the two theories has been brought up into consideration by the advances in methodology and statistical analysis. In this paper pupils’ conceptions of the earth were analyzed by latent class analyses. Children’s ideas (N=184, grades 1st to 3rd), were investigated using a closed-ended questionnaire, which includes illustrations corresponding to certain mental models. The results showed that pupils’ conceptions of the earth are not characterized by consistency and thus they do not support the existence of coherent mental models. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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Do differences matter? A typology of emerging adult romantic relationship

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships ◽

10.1177/0265407516661589 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 334-355 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Patricia N. E. Roberson ◽

Jerika Christine Norona ◽

Jessica N. Fish ◽

Spencer B. Olmstead ◽

Frank Fincham

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Romantic Relationships ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Romantic Relationship ◽

Latent Class ◽

Emerging Adult ◽

Predictor Variables ◽

Future Research ◽

Latent Class Analyses ◽

Group Variation

Romantic relationships among emerging adults (individuals aged 18–25 years) are typically homogenously classified both theoretically and empirically as “exploratory” and “unstable.” With a sample of college students ( N = 340), we examined within-group variation among romantic relationships in emerging adulthood using latent class analyses. Four predictor variables indicated four types of romantic relationships among emerging adult college students: the committers (38%), the casual daters (23%), the settlers (30%), and the volatile daters (8%). Classes varied according to background variables such as gender and infidelity. Additionally, there was class variation for outcome variables such as breakup status and loneliness. Future research and implications are discussed.

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Studying the coherence of studentsʼ portrayed representations of the atomic structure - Connections with conceptions and misconceptions

Science Education International ◽

10.33828/sei.v32.i2.10 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 164-171

Author(s):

Nikolaos Zarkadis ◽

◽

Dimitrios Stamovlasis ◽

George Papageorgiou ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latent Class Analysis ◽

Atomic Structure ◽

Latent Class ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Particle Model ◽

Nuclear Model ◽

Education Students ◽

Psychometric Method ◽

Drawing Tasks ◽

And Behavior

The present study investigated the association of students’ fundamental ideas and misconceptions about ontological features of atom identity and behavior with the formation of their portrayed representations of the atomic structure. Participants (n = 421) were secondary education students in the eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. Students’ portrayed representations of the atomic structure were accessed through drawing tasks, while their understanding of the ontological features of atom was measured through a specially designed questionnaire. Latent Class Analysis (LCA), a psychometric method, was applied to the elementary features of the portrayed representations to classify them and test the potential coherence of their representations regarding atomic structure. The LCA revealed three latent classes, which showed a relative coherence in three of the anticipated models, “Particle model,” “Nuclear model,” and “Bohrʼs model.” Moreover, students’ conceptions and misconception about the ontological features of atom were used as covariates in the LCA and their effects on the above-mentioned class-memberships were estimated. Results indicated a significant effect of students’ conceptions of the atomic ontological features on their portrayed representations of the atomic structure. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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Variations and Similarities in School Victimization

Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190663049.003.0004 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 47-68

Author(s):

Ron Avi Astor ◽

Rami Benbenishty

Keyword(s):

School Climate ◽

Sexual Minority ◽

Teacher Support ◽

Latent Class ◽

Minority Status ◽

Structural Patterns ◽

Base Rates ◽

Multiple Contexts ◽

Latent Class Analyses ◽

School Victimization

This chapter examines which patterns of victimization are universal and shared by many groups and in multiple contexts and which are more unique to groups or contexts. The chapter distinguishes among base rates (i.e., the prevalence of victimization types) and structures of victimization. It suggests that although base rates of victimization types may vary significantly among different contexts, structural patterns may be much more similar across contexts. The chapter suggests that are multiple ways to address structures of victimization. For example, will the prevalence of being humiliated by a peer always be higher than being pushed or shoved? Are verbal and physical types of victimization correlated in the same ways in different countries? Will latent class analyses reveal the same profiles of students in different countries? cultures? Are poverty, sexual minority status, school climate, and teacher support associated with victimization in the same way in different countries?

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