Adolescent Peer Social Network Dynamics and Problem Behavior

青少年同伴社交网络动态和问题行为

• 批准号: 7467517
• 负责人: John Mackenzie Light
• 金额: $ 56.98万
• 依托单位: OREGON RESEARCH INSTITUTE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-01 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7467517
• 关键词: Accounting; Address; Administrator; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Adult; Affect; Aggressive behavior; Alcohol or Other Drugs use; Alcohols; Algorithms; Attention; Behavior; Behavior Therapy; Behavioral; Biological Models; Causations; Child; Child Development; Class; Climate; Code; Computer software; Condition; Conflict (Psychology); Cooperative Behavior; Data; Data Collection; Decision Making; Development; Drops; Drug Formulations; Ecology; Educational process of instructing; Effectiveness; Elements; Environment; Equilibrium; Etiology; Evolution; Exposure to; Family; Family Relationship; Feedback; Feeling; Friends; Funding; Future; Generations; Goals; Group Affiliation; Group Processes; Group Structure; Growth; Human Development; Individual; Influentials; Internet; Intervention; Investigation; Language; Language Development; Lead; Light; Link; Literature; Measures; Methodology; Methods; Modeling; Monitor; National Institute of Drug Abuse; Nature; Nonlinear Dynamics; Numbers; Online Systems; Outcome; Participant; Pathway Analysis; Pattern; Peer Group; Performance; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Phase; Play; Positioning Attribute; Positive Reinforcements; Practice Management; Prevalence; Price; Problem behavior; Procedures; Process; Public Health; Publications; Publishing; Purpose; Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials; Range; Recommendation; Relative (related person); Research; Research Personnel; Rewards; Role; Running; Safety; Sampling; Scheme; Schools; Science; Secondary Schools; Sex Behavior; Social Behavior; Social Environment; Social Network; Social status; Sociology; Specific qualifier value; Speed; Standards of Weights and Measures; Statistical Methods; Statistical Models; Structure; Students; System; Technology; Testing; Theft; Thinking; Time; Tobacco use; Ursidae Family; Variant; Victimization; Violence; Work; Youth; anti social; base; bullying; cohort; computer program; contagion; design; deviant; environmental intervention; experience; farmer; improved; innovation; interest; mathematical model; motor control; multicore processor; multilevel analysis; network models; open source; parallel processing; parental monitoring; peer; peer influence; perpetrators; programs; psychologic; response; social; social group; sound; teacher; theories; vandalism

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ecological theory suggests that early adolescent peer groups regularly form which encourage problem behavior, leading to even closer, deviance-prone peer groups, and so on in a self-reinforcing cycle. We call this process toxic peer contagion. It is best conceptualized as a Nonlinear Dynamic System (NDS). We propose to develop NDS models that explain the onset to and growth of problem behaviors (antisocial behavior, aggression, substance use) in middle school peer social ecologies, and particularly to examine toxic peer contagion as an explanatory hypothesis. The study will be conducted in 21 sixth- to eighth-grade middle schools involved in an already underway, NIDA- funded group-randomized trial of the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) program. A major goal is to investigate variation in toxic peer contagion differences between schools, especially between PBS program and control schools. The project requires collecting social relationship (social network) and relevant behavioral data on multiple occasions, and observing the pattern of interdependence between them over time. Assessments will be conducted four times per school year, for two consecutive entering sixth-grade cohorts, through the end of their eighth-grade year in each of the 21 participating schools; thus, 12 observations per cohort. School-level models will be created using SIENA, a recently developed statistical methodology specifically designed to estimate models of evolving social networks and co-evolving behavior. Also, two-level models will be developed when effects vary significantly across schools. In order to accomplish these ambitious goals with this large, diverse sample of schools and students, it is necessary to perform several major upgrades to the SIENA computer software, improving its estimation performance by porting it to multiprocessor computing environments, and enhancing its ability to include interaction effects, full- information multilevel models, and cross-level interactions. For this purpose, we are partnering with the researchers who developed SIENA to make the upgrades necessary for project goals. The results of this project will include: (a) estimates of the prevalence of toxic peer contagion in a varigated sample of middle schools; (b) conditions under which it is most and least likely to occur; (c) the effectiveness of PBS as a way to discourage it; and (d) recommendations for peer-directed interventions for dealing with this problem. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project will examine the effect of a group-randomized trial of an already funded school-level positive behavior intervention on the over-time interdependence between early adolescent problem behavior and peer group dynamics. This process, developed from theories of social ecologies and development, is toxic peer contagion. Nonlinear dynamic models of affiliation-behavior interdependence will be statistically estimated from longitudinal (4x/yr, 6th to 8th grade) data using SIENA, a computer program specifically developed to model such processes. Results will explain the role of peer affiliations in development of problem behavior, the effect of positive behavior support on this linkage, and suggest new avenues for future interventions.

描述（由申请人提供）：生态理论表明，青少年早期的同龄人群体会定期形成，这会鼓励问题行为，从而导致更亲密、容易出现偏差的同龄人群体，等等，形成自我强化的循环。我们将这个过程称为“有毒的同伴传染”。 最好将其概念化为非线性动态系统（NDS）。我们建议开发 NDS 模型来解释中学同伴社会生态中问题行为（反社会行为、攻击性、物质使用）的发生和增长，特别是检查有毒同伴传染作为解释性假设。该研究将在 21 所六至八年级中学进行，这些中学参与了一项由 NIDA 资助的积极行为支持 (PBS) 计划小组随机试验。一个主要目标是调查学校之间有毒同伴传染差异的变化，特别是 PBS 项目和对照学校之间的差异。该项目需要在多个场合收集社会关系（社交网络）和相关行为数据，并观察它们之间随着时间的推移相互依赖的模式。每学年将针对 21 所参与学校中的每所学校连续两个进入六年级的学生进行四次评估，直至他们八年级结束；因此，每个队列有 12 个观察值。学校层面的模型将使用 SIENA 创建，SIENA 是一种最近开发的统计方法，专门用于估计不断发展的社交网络和共同进化行为的模型。此外，当不同学校的影响差异很大时，将开发两级模型。为了在如此庞大、多样化的学校和学生样本中实现这些雄心勃勃的目标，有必要对 SIENA 计算机软件进行几次重大升级，通过将其移植到多处理器计算环境来提高其估计性能，并增强其包括的能力交互效应、全信息多层次模型和跨层次交互。为此，我们正在与开发 SIENA 的研究人员合作，进行项目目标所需的升级。该项目的结果将包括： (a) 对不同中学样本中有毒同伴传染流行率的估计； (b) 最有可能和最不可能发生的条件； (c) PBS 作为阻止这种行为的有效性； (d) 针对处理这一问题的同行指导干预措施的建议。公共卫生相关性：该项目将研究一项已资助的学校层面的积极行为干预的分组随机试验对青少年早期问题行为与同伴群体动态之间长期相互依赖的影响。这个过程是从社会生态学和发展理论发展而来的，是有毒的同伴传染。 隶属关系-行为相互依赖的非线性动态模型将使用 SIENA（专门为模拟此类过程而开发的计算机程序）根据纵向（4x/年，6 至 8 年级）数据进行统计估计。结果将解释同伴关系在问题行为发展中的作用、积极行为支持对这种联系的影响，并为未来的干预提出新的途径。