Peer pressure has been blamed for adolescent behaviors ranging from choice in clothing to cigarette smoking. Now a new study says that the effects of peer pressure on teenagers' behavior may be severely overrated.

This study, published in Addiction (Vol. 91, No.2), adds to a growing body of research that suggests peer pressure is a weaker factor in adolescent behavior than many had believed. Study co-author Susan T. Ennett, Ph.D., a research health analyst for the Research Triangle Institute, said: "When there is so much emphasis on peer pressure, there's a tendency not to discuss or not to look hard for evidence of other factors. We went back and tried to critically examine the importance of peer pressure."

The researchers examined studies on adolescent behavior spanning two decades and found that peer pressure was easily blamed for teenage behavior but never examined. Other factors such as family life, economic background, environment, and biological tendencies all may be as important or more important than peer pressure in determining behavior.

According to the researchers, teenagers may not change because of their friends, but seek out friends with similar interests. "Kids who smoke tend to choose kids who smoke as friends," Ennett remarked. "When you're seeing kids in groups alike in their behavior, it becomes easy to say, 'Oh they smoke because their friends do'. Actually it may be an impetus for them becoming friends at all."

Ennett says that an emphasis on resisting peer pressure may be the reason why anti-drug programs in schools are not showing a marked effect on teenage drug use. "We have data from school-based drug programs for the past few decades. Their effects are rather modest, and tend to be short-lived." The researchers say this may be due to their emphasis on social skills and training to counteract peer pressure.

This piece reprinted with permission from Prevention File, Spring 1996.

Study cited: Bauman, K, Ennett, S. On the Importance of Peer Influence for Adolescent Drug Use: Commonly Neglected Considerations. Addiction. 91 (2): 185-198, 1996.