{"__content__"=>"\n Objectives\n \n \n Methods\n \n \n Results\n \n \n Conclusions\n \n ", "p"=>[{"__content__"=>"The current study contributes to the literature on peer influence by evaluating both (1) whether the impact of peer influence on alcohol use changes during adolescence and (2) whether accounting for initiation into alcohol use helps to explain developmental trends in peer influence."}, {"__content__"=>"The analyses in this study use data from the evaluation of the PROSPER partnership model and that were collected from more than 5,580 students as they moved from 6th through 12th grade. Estimates from stochastic actor-oriented models inform tests of whether peer influence on past-month alcohol use changes during adolescence, whether peers influence initiation into alcohol use, and whether peer influence on alcohol use is different depending on whether an adolescent has already initiated use."}, {"__content__"=>"There is evidence of peer influence on both past-month alcohol use and initiation into alcohol use. Estimates of peer influence appear to be highest in early adolescence and stronger among those who had already initiated use. There is no evidence of a consistent increase or decrease in peer influence on alcohol use across adolescence or that initiation into alcohol use can explain developmental trends in peer influence."}, {"__content__"=>"The results from this study challenge past theory and research that have raised the possibility that the tendency to change individual behavior to match friends’ behavior varies across adolescence."}]}