The primary novel feature of this analysis is our integration of a dynamic network model (a SABM) for friendship changes with a proportional hazard model for onset to alcohol use. Our analysis represents the first example of this broadly applicable modeling framework. A model of onset may also be thought of as a diffusion process. Diffusion is a natural phenomenon in networks, and long an important topic for network studies (e.g., Granovetter, 1973; Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955; Rogers, 1995; Valente, 2005). The SABM network hazard model provides an approach for estimating data-driven network diffusion models for ideas, information, innovations, and even the spread of diseases—indeed, of any individual characteristic that can be usefully thought of as being acquired through network linkages.
