More recent studies have attempted to assess the synergistic influence of peers and families. Whereas the majority of studies on peers have focused on the negative consequences of social networks, research shows that greater parental support and monitoring can lead to prosocial peer affiliations (Williams et al. 2015). One study found that protective influences in parental domains can moderate the negative effects of negative peer influences among Latino college students (Varvil-Weld et al. 2014). In particular, maternal communication resulted in less alcohol use; conversely, maternal permissive norms and peer norms were associated with more alcohol use. Greater parental disapproval toward alcohol use is associated with lower involvement in peer networks that use alcohol, less peer influence to use, and greater self-efficacy and stronger negotiation skills to avoid alcohol (Nash et al. 2005). Interventions aimed at establishing and fostering conservative peer norms were found to be more effective than individual resistance training (Hansen and Graham 1991), whereas multilevel interventions incorporating peers, families, and communities are known to be effective among adolescents (Chapman et al. 2013; Perry et al. 2002; Toumbourou et al. 2013).
