A longitudinal analysis of alcohol use, environmental conduciveness and normative structure.

Abstract

Data were gathered by interviews with 5115 white North Carolina [USA] senior high-school students, of whom 1420 were reinterviewed 1 yr later during their 1st yr of college. Both in high-school and in college those who drank were less likely to be frequent churchgoers, more likely to be involved with peers who drank and more likely to have a normative structure compatible with drinking. A 2-wave panel analysis revealed that the normative structure adopted in high-school exerted a major influence on the pattern of social relationships and drinking behavior in college. If a student drank in high-school, the chances were increased that in college he would change his normative structure and would select friends and activities more conducive to drinking (including lesser church involvement). Results were discussed in terms of the mutual supportiveness of social environment, normative structure and behavior.