How physical activity shapes, and is shaped by, adolescent friendships.

The current study explored the role of school-based friendship networks in adolescents' engagement in physical activity (PA). It was hypothesized that similar participation in PA would be a basis for friendship formation, and that friends would also influence behavior. Whether these processes were mediated through cognitive mechanisms was also explored. Self-reported participation in PA, cognitions about PA, and friendship ties to grade-mates were measured in two cohorts of Australian grade eight students (N = 378; M age = 13.7) three times over the 2008 school year. Interdependence between the friendship networks and PA was tested using stochastic actor-based models for social networks and behavior. The results showed that participants tended to befriend peers who did similar amounts of PA, and subsequently emulated their friends' behaviors. Friends' influence on PA was not found to be mediated through adolescents' cognitions about PA. These findings show that there is a mutually dependent relationship between adolescent friendship networks and PA; they highlight how novel network-based strategies may be effective in supporting young people to be physically active.

[1]  Terry E. Duncan,et al.  Sources and types of social support in youth physical activity. , 2005, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[2]  Christian Steglich,et al.  Dynamics of adolescent friendship networks and smoking behavior: social network analyses in six European countries. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[3]  David Murray,et al.  The role of peer social network factors and physical activity in adolescent girls. , 2005, American journal of health behavior.

[4]  Tom A. B. Snijders,et al.  Introduction to stochastic actor-based models for network dynamics , 2010, Soc. Networks.

[5]  D. Bem.  Self-Perception Theory , 1972 .

[6]  N. Christakis,et al.  The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years , 2007, The New England journal of medicine.

[7]  K. Dodge,et al.  Understanding Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents. , 2008 .

[8]  Garry Robins,et al.  Obesity-related behaviors in adolescent friendship networks , 2010, Soc. Networks.

[9]  M. Schweinberger.  Statistical modelling of network panel data: goodness of fit. , 2012, The British journal of mathematical and statistical psychology.

[10]  James F. Sallis,et al.  Young and active? Young people and health-enhancing physical activity - evidence and implications , 1998 .

[11]  Tom A. B. Snijders,et al.  Homophily and assimilation among sportactive adolescent substance users , 2006 .

[12]  Todd D. Little,et al.  Predicting adolescent eating and activity behaviors: the role of social norms and personal agency. , 2003 .

[13]  C. Victora,et al.  Adolescent Physical Activity and Health , 2006, Sports medicine.

[14]  A. Bauman,et al.  The reliability and validity of the Adolescent Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire. , 2002, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[15]  Garry Robins,et al.  Social psychology and social networks: Individuals and social systems , 2008 .

[16]  T. Snijders,et al.  Longitudinal models in the behavioral and related sciences , 2007 .

[17]  S. Griffin,et al.  Effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity in children and adolescents: systematic review of controlled trials , 2009 .

[18]  Penny Gordon-Larsen,et al.  Longitudinal physical activity and sedentary behavior trends: adolescence to adulthood. , 2004, American journal of preventive medicine.

[19]  P. Sheeran,et al.  Social Influences and the Theory of Planned Behaviour: Evidence for a Direct Relationship Between Prototypes and Young People's Exercise Behaviour , 2003 .

[20]  S. Thompson.  Social Learning Theory , 2008 .

[21]  M. Conner,et al.  Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[22]  Stanley W. Borg.  Social Networks and Health: Models, Methods, and Applications , 2012 .

[23]  T. Halliday,et al.  3610 Weight Gain in Adolescents and Their Peers , 2008 .

[24]  T. Snijders,et al.  Modeling the Coevolution of Networks and Behavior , 2007 .

[25]  P. Pattison,et al.  New Specifications for Exponential Random Graph Models , 2006 .

[26]  Christian Steglich,et al.  Beyond dyadic interdependence: Actor-oriented models for co-evolving social networks and individual behaviors , 2007 .

[27]  Mark Huisman,et al.  Statistical Analysis of Longitudinal Network Data With Changing Composition , 2003 .

[28]  Hein de Vries,et al.  Article in Press G Model Social Networks Dynamics of Adolescent Friendship Networks and Smoking Behavior , 2022 .

[29]  N. Christakis,et al.  Estimating Peer Effects on Health in Social Networks , 2008, Journal of health economics.

[30]  K. Patrick,et al.  Diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors as risk factors for overweight in adolescence. , 2004, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[31]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[32]  C. Steglich,et al.  DYNAMIC NETWORKS AND BEHAVIOR: SEPARATING SELECTION FROM INFLUENCE: separating selection from influence , 2010 .

[33]  K. Patrick,et al.  Physical Activity Guidelines for Adolescents: Consensus Statement , 1994 .