The Moderation of Adolescent–to–Peer Similarity in Tobacco and Alcohol Use by School Levels of Substance Use

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Abstract
Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined the impact of school–level smoking and drinking on adolescent–peer similarity for smoking and drinking. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that adolescent–peer similarity was significantly moderated by school–level substance use for both tobacco and alcohol use. For tobacco, similarity between adolescent and peer use increased from .18 in the lower quartile of tobacco–using schools to .44 in the upper quartile of tobacco–using schools. Corresponding similarities for alcohol use ranged from .25 to .34. These results suggest that schools with relatively few substance–using peers provide less opportunities for adolescents to pick niches that expose them to risk factors that correspond to their own substance–use behaviors.