A potential limitation of this study is that peer influence may operate differently across racial/ethnic groups (Griesler & Kandel, 1998; Siddiqui, Mott, Anderson, & Flay, 1999), and although our sample was representative of the county from which it was drawn, we did not have adequate group sizes to test for such differences. Our sample is limited to early adolescence, a time when peer influence may be particularly strong (Brown et al., 1997); therefore, our findings may not generalize to older adolescents. Finally, we focused on perceived peer attitudes and not peer reports of attitudes which has the potential of overestimating the influence of peers (Kandel, 1996; Prinstein & Wang, 2005). Still, research suggests that the perception of peers’ approval and substance use may be especially influential during early adolescence when actual substance use or offers are rare (Bauman & Ennett, 1996) and may be critical for understanding initiation of substance use in early adolescence. It will be important to see if these relationships still exist when including peer reports of attitudes and use. Finally, our data are cross-sectional, thus limiting strong conclusions regarding the direction of effects.
