Perceived Peer Delinquency (PPD) was measured using the Exposure to Delinquent Peers Measure from Wave 6 of the National Youth Survey (Elliott, Huizinga, & Menard, 1989), with a single item (sold or given alcohol to kids under 18) excluded from our measure (as it was considered to have a different meaning for this age group). Predictive validity for this measure has been established (Elliott et al., 1989). The individual items from the PPD measure have a Cronbach’s α of 0.84, indicating good internal consistency. Respondents reported how many of their friends had participated in 13 delinquent behaviors, including alcohol and drug use, stealing, and violence, in the 6 months prior to the interview. Each item was scored according to whether none (1), very few (2), some (3), most (4), or all (5) of their friends engaged in each activity. Consequently, the PPD score provides information regarding the individuals’ perceptions of the relative proportion of their peers who have engaged in a variety of delinquent behaviors. A total PPD score was derived by multiplying the mean score of the individual items
