They say that you are judged by the company you keep. When it comes to the parents, they immediately zero in on the closest ones of their underage teens, as they may significantly influence their kids to get involved in bad habits. Based on a new study, they may be right in doing so.
According to a new study conducted by Indiana University researchers and presented in the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, the frequency and the age when underage teens start drinking depend on the drinking patterns of their close friends.
The lead author Jonathon Beckmeyer tackled the research after determining that there are not a lot of studies that compare the influence close friends have over that of the general peer group.
More than 800 15-year-old teens participated in the study. The researchers then distributed questionnaires that aimed to identify if their friends have been drinking, how many of them actually drink, and if they themselves have drunk some alcohol 12 months prior to the beginning of the study. They also asked the participants how many of other teens their age may have been drinking.
Based on the results, while many teens believe that others of their age may have been drinking, this perception didn't have any huge effect on whether they drank alcohol or not. What weighed was the influence of their friends. It didn't matter how much alcohol their friends drank. As long as they know someone or a number of their friends who do, then the teens are most likely to copy the habit.
In the same manner, even if there may be many teens who now drink alcohol, if a teen is surrounded by friends who don't enjoy drinking or partying, he or she may also skip drinking.
Beckmeyer thus suggests that parents may want to encourage their children to pick friends who don't drink alcohol.
