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CONCORDANCE OF ADOLESCENT REPORTS OF FRIEND PROBLEM BEHAVIORS AS PREDICTED BY QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIP AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES

Belendiuk, Katherine A. (2009) CONCORDANCE OF ADOLESCENT REPORTS OF FRIEND PROBLEM BEHAVIORS AS PREDICTED BY QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIP AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Adolescent alcohol use is strongly associated with many negative health outcomes and can increase risk for drinking problems later in life. The strongest predictor of adolescent alcohol use is affiliation with friends who also drink, use other drugs, or exhibit other problem behaviors (e.g., stealing, fighting). Currently, many studies examine friend problem behavior by asking adolescents to provide reports of their friends' behaviors; however, some research suggests that these reports may be inaccurate. While it is difficult to determine accuracy of report, report concordance is easily measured. No studies have examined variables that might predict report concordance, such as characteristics of the relationship (e.g. relationship quality; time spent with friends). This study compared adolescents' perceptions of their close friend's smoking, drinking, and deviant behavior to self-reports collected directly from the friends. Degree of association between perception and friend report was studied as a function of several relationship characteristics and demographic variables (e.g. age, gender) hypothesized to predict concordance. Results indicated that the statistically significant concordance between adolescent perception and friend self-report of smoking and drinking behavior was driven largely by agreement concerning the absence of behavior; adolescents were not sensitive in their perceptions of their friends' positive history of substance use. Concordance between adolescent perceptions and friend self-report of deviance was statistically significant but modest in magnitude, with most targets under-reporting their friend's involvement in deviant behaviors. Few variables predicted report concordance for the three outcome variables (smoking, drinking, and deviance), and those that did (age, adolescent's own problem behavior, negative relationship quality, and amount of time spent with friends) accounted for only a small amount of the variance. Implications for the assessment of friend influence on adolescent problem behavior are discussed.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Belendiuk, Katherine A.kab123@pitt.eduKAB123
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairMolina, Brooke S.G.molinab@upmc.eduBROOKEM
Committee MemberShaw, Danielcasey@pitt.eduCASEY
Committee MemberCheong, JeeWonjcheong@pitt.eduJCHEONG
Committee MemberDonovan, John E.donovanje@upmc.eduJDONOVAN
Date: 4 June 2009
Date Type: Completion
Defense Date: 4 December 2008
Approval Date: 4 June 2009
Submission Date: 24 February 2009
Access Restriction: 5 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 5 years.
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology
Degree: MS - Master of Science
Thesis Type: Master's Thesis
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: Deviance; Drinking; Peer; Smoking; Adolescence; Collateral Report
Other ID: http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-02242009-114618/, etd-02242009-114618
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2011 19:31
Last Modified: 19 Dec 2016 14:34
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/6400

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