Chunk #32 — Examples of Specific Environments that Could be Modeled Across Species: Early Alcohol Exposures and the Peer Environment — The Peer Social Environment
Alcohol consumption in humans, at least consumption that leads to intoxication, is largely a social phenomenon. Perhaps the strongest environmental correlate of alcohol use and alcohol problems is peer use, with adolescents and young adults showing a strong resemblance with their peers with respect to their substance use. This similarity reflects two complementary and interacting processes: socialization or causation, and selection (Andrews et al. 2002). Socialization describes the phenomenon where an individual’s alcohol use is shaped by influence from the peer group. In this case, affiliations with substance using peers may encourage greater involvement with alcohol through various mechanisms, including social learning, peer group influence, modeling, and social facilitation (Fergusson et al. 2002; Deater-Deckard 2001). Conversely, the process of selection occurs when adolescents seek affiliation with peers who display similar patterns of substance use or deviant behavior. Research suggests that adolescents from disadvantaged, dysfunctional, or disturbed environments or those with a predisposition towards antisocial behavior are most likely to become involved with deviant peer groups through the selection process (Fergusson et al. 1999). In either case, the proportion of peer
