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Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents: Crossing the Bridge from Developmental to Intervention Science

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Abstract

Considerable evidence supports the hypothesis that peer relationships influence the growth of problem behavior in youth. Developmental research consistently documents the high levels of covariation between peer and youth deviance, even controlling for selection effects. Ironically, the most common public interventions for deviant youth involve segregation from mainstream peers and aggregation into settings with other deviant youth. Developmental research on peer influence suggests that desired positive effects of group interventions in education, mental health, juvenile justice, and community programming may be offset by deviant peer influences in these settings. Given the public health policy issues raised by these findings, there is a need to better understand the conditions under which these peer contagion effects are most pronounced with respect to intervention foci and context, the child’s developmental level, and specific strategies for managing youth behavior in groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

    Mary Gifford-Smith & Kenneth A. Dodge

  2. Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon

    Thomas J. Dishion

  3. Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Narberth, Pennsylvania

    Joan McCord

  4. Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Box 90264, Durham, North Carolina, 27708-0264

    Kenneth A. Dodge

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  1. Mary Gifford-Smith
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  2. Kenneth A. Dodge
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  3. Thomas J. Dishion
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  4. Joan McCord
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Correspondence to Kenneth A. Dodge.

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Gifford-Smith, M., Dodge, K.A., Dishion, T.J. et al. Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents: Crossing the Bridge from Developmental to Intervention Science. J Abnorm Child Psychol 33, 255–265 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-3563-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-3563-7

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