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PubMed2000

Childhood peer relationship problems and later risks of educational under-achievement and unemployment.

This paper examines relations between the extent of children's peer relationship problems at age 9 and their later risks of educational under-achievement and unemployment by the age of 18 years. Results showed that children with high rates of early peer relationship problems were at increased risk of under-achievement and unemployment when compared with children with low rates of early peer relationship problems. These elevated educational and occupational risks were explained by two processes. First, associations between early peer difficulties and later disadvantage were in part noncausal, and arose because of the personal characteristics (IQ and attentional problems) and social backgrounds (socioeconomic adversity, exposure to parental change, and punitive parent-child interaction) of children with early peer problems. Second, problematic peer relations during childhood appeared to place young people at increased risk of a range of adolescent interpersonal and school-related difficulties, including weaker peer attachments, interpersonal problems with teachers, school truancy, suspension, and early school leaving. In turn, these experiences and behaviours served to reduce the educational and employment opportunities of children with early peer problems. Results highlight the importance of childhood peer relationships for academic and occupational success.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Prevention of alcohol use and abuse in adolescence: teacher- vs peer-led intervention.

The use of peer leaders as facilitators for smoking and alcohol abuse prevention with adolescents is one component of recently successful programs. Peer leaders are unique in their abilities to influence peer group behavior because they are members of the peer group, are credible role models and disseminators of social information, and utilize the same language as their peers. Peer leaders can be trained to modify environmental, personality, and behavioral factors that are predictive of alcohol use among adolescents, and become a viable alternative to teachers and adult leaders. The WHO Collaborative Study on Alcohol Education and Young People compared a peer-led alcohol educational program to a teacher-led program to no program in 25 schools in Australia, Chile, Norway, and Swaziland. The educational program emphasized refusal skills for alcohol use among 8th and 9th graders in the four countries. The peer-led educational program appears to be efficacious in reducing adolescent involvement with alcohol across a variety of settings, economies, and cultures. Peer leadership may be a particularly promising approach to prevention, theoretically and empirically.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

A citation analysis of the impact of blinded peer review.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether articles published in journals using blinded peer review receive significantly more or fewer citations than those published in journals using nonblinded peer review. DESIGN: Drawing from a sample of 1051 full articles published in 28 economics journals during 1984, we used nonlinear regression and ordered probit techniques to estimate the impact of blinded peer review on citations of these articles in 1985 through 1989. OUTCOMES: Citations of articles. RESULTS: Articles published in journals using blinded peer review were cited significantly more than articles published in journals using nonblinded peer review, controlling for a variety of author, article, and journal attributes. CONCLUSIONS: Nonblinded peer review apparently suffers from type I error to a greater extent than blinded peer review. That is, journals using nonblinded peer review published a larger fraction of papers that should not have been published than do journals using blinded peer review. When reviewers know the identity of the author(s) of an article, they are able to (and evidently do) substitute particularistic criteria for universalistic criteria in their evaluative process.

Authorship↗

PubMed2005

Peering is not a formal indicator of subordination in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

It has been suggested that peering behavior in bonobos is a formal signal acknowledging social dominance status. We investigated whether peering meets the published criteria for a formal signal of subordination in five captive groups of bonobos. The degree of linearity in the set of peering relationships was significantly high in all study groups, and a linear rank order was found. However, unidirectionality was low, and there was little correspondence between the peering order and the agonistic dominance rank. Therefore, peering does not satisfy the criteria of a formal subordination indicator. We also studied the relation between peering and agonistic dominance rank, age, and sex. Animals directed peering significantly more often at high-ranking animals in four of the groups. We suggest that peering is indirectly related to dominance rank by the resource-holding potential of individuals. In contexts where dominant individuals can monopolize resources, peerers may direct their attention at those high-ranking animals. When resources are distributed more evenly, high-ranking animals may peer down the hierarchy. We speculate on the reasons why a formal dominance or subordination signal appears to be absent in bonobos.

Aggression↗

PubMed2002

Peer support in the community: initial findings of a mentoring program for individuals with traumatic brain injury and their families.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of a community-based peer support program for individuals and their family members following traumatic brain injury (TBI). SETTINGS: Community-based sample of family members and individuals with traumatic brain injury. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty individuals who had participated in the peer support program (11 individuals with TBI and 9 family members). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used: a retrospective structured interview assessing self-reported impacts of peer support on empowerment, quality of life, mood, skills and knowledge, and social supports; an in-depth qualitative interview with a subgroup of family members focused on the specific benefits/limitations of the peer support program. RESULTS: Participants in the peer support program reported positive impacts of peer support on increasing their knowledge of TBI, enhancing their overall quality of life, improving their general outlook, and enhancing their ability to cope with depression post TBI. The peer support program was reported to have had a minimal impact on enhancing social support from families, friends, and the community, with varying impacts noted on levels of happiness, coping with anger and anxiety, communication with professionals, and control over one's life. Qualitative analysis suggests the merits of this type of community-based support and areas of improvement for the peer support program itself. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data suggest that peer support is a promising approach to enhancing coping for both individuals and their family members after TBI.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Community based peer counsellors for support of exclusive breastfeeding: experiences from rural Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Universal exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months could reduce infant mortality by 13%. Although 99% women initiate breastfeeding in Uganda, exclusive breastfeeding rates remain low. Although peer counsellors for support of breastfeeding mothers have been found useful in other countries, they have not been used in Uganda. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of training community based peer counsellors to support exclusive breastfeeding in a rural district in Uganda. METHODS: With assistance of the investigators, the local communities selected fifteen women aged 25 to 30 years. These women were trained for five days on breastfeeding counselling using the La Leche League curriculum. After training they returned to their communities and started supporting breastfeeding peers. They were followed up and supported in their work for three months. The programme was evaluated through focus group discussions with the peer counsellors, fathers and mothers. RESULTS: The trainees appreciated the knowledge gained and discussed cultural beliefs which affect breastfeeding. They offered breastfeeding support to 15 mothers each within the first two months. They found time to visit and help their breastfeeding peers despite busy schedules. They identified common breastfeeding problems as "insufficient breast milk", sore nipples, breast engorgement, mastitis and poor positioning at the breast. They further observed that most of these problems were eased by correct positioning of the baby at the breast. The peer counsellors were easily accepted by their communities. The mothers were happy to have someone within their community helping them with their breastfeeding problems. Although the peer counsellors were initially selected as volunteers, soon they demanded remuneration. CONCLUSION: The training and follow up of peer counsellors to support exclusive breastfeeding in this rural district is feasible. The peer counsellors were accepted by their communities.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Evaluation of a peer education programme for female sex workers in Bali, Indonesia.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate a peer education programme for female sex workers in Bali, Indonesia. Sex workers participated in face-to-face interviews and STD exams in August-September 1998. In October 1998 one woman from each of 30 clusters was selected to be a peer educator and received a 2-day training on AIDS, STDs, condom use, and condom negotiation. After training, the peer educators were visited twice a week by field workers to answer questions and offer support. All sex workers received group education every 2 months. In January-February 1999, the sex workers again participated in face-to-face interviews and examinations. One month after peer education training, only 50% of the peer educators were still working in the clusters where they were trained. To evaluate the impact of the peer educators, sex workers in clusters where a peer educator continued to work were compared with sex workers in clusters where women did not continue to work (n=189). In clusters where women continued to work, there were higher levels of AIDS knowledge (P < 0.05), STD knowledge (P < 0.05) and condom use (82 vs 73%, P=0.15). The prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection was also lower in clusters with a peer educator (39% vs 55%, P=0.05) than in clusters without a peer educator.

Female↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Origins of individual differences in theory of mind: from nature to nurture?

In this study of the origins of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM), the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study sample of 1,116 sixty-month-old twin pairs completed a comprehensive battery of ToM tasks. Individual differences in ToM were striking and strongly associated with verbal ability. Behavioral genetic models of the data showed that environmental factors explained the majority of the variance in ToM performance in this sample. Shared environmental influences on verbal ability had a common impact on ToM and explained more than half the phenotypic correlation between these two skills. Possible underlying proximal mechanisms are discussed, including maternal speech and mind-mindedness, sibling interactions, and peer influences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Perceived value of providing peer reviewers with abstracts and preprints of related published and unpublished papers.

CONTEXT: Many journals provide peer reviewers with written instructions regarding review criteria, such as the originality of results, but little research has been done to investigate ways to improve or facilitate the peer review task. OBJECTIVE: To assess the value that peer reviewers place on receipt of supplemental materials (eg, abstracts of related papers and preprints of related unpublished manuscripts). DESIGN: Questionnaire survey sent to all 733 peer reviewers recruited by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute to review 356 manuscripts consecutively sent out for review from February 24, 1997, through January 16, 1998. The inclusion of supplemental materials with manuscript review packages was optional. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The peer reviewers' assessment of the actual or potential usefulness of supplemental materials on the performance of peer review. RESULTS: A total of 481 (66%) of 733 questionnaires were returned. Of the 471 respondents' questionnaires that could be used, 217 (46%) indicated that they received abstracts, and 44 (10%) of 458 respondents indicated that they received preprints. Higher proportions of peer reviewers who received supplemental materials than those who had not received them felt that they were (or would be) useful to them when reviewing the manuscript (63% [95% confidence interval (CI), 57%-69%] vs 45% [95% CI, 38%-52%]; P<.001) and to the peer review process in general (80% [95% CI, 75%-85%] vs 64% [95% CI, 58%-70%]; P<.001). CONCLUSION: The majority of respondents indicated that supplemental materials helped (or would have helped) them evaluate manuscripts and valued them more highly when they actually received them.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

PubMed2002

Comparison of review articles published in peer-reviewed and throwaway journals.

CONTEXT: To compare the quality, presentation, readability, and clinical relevance of review articles published in peer-reviewed and "throwaway" journals. METHODS: We reviewed articles that focused on the diagnosis or treatment of a medical condition published between January 1 and December 31, 1998, in the 5 leading peer-reviewed general medical journals and high-circulation throwaway journals. Reviewers independently assessed the methodologic and reporting quality, and evaluated each article's presentation and readability. Clinical relevance was evaluated independently by 6 physicians. RESULTS: Of the 394 articles in our sample, 16 (4.1%) were peer-reviewed systematic reviews, 135 (34.3%) were peer-reviewed nonsystematic reviews, and 243 (61.7%) were nonsystematic reviews published in throwaway journals. The mean (SD) quality scores were highest for peer-reviewed articles (0.94 [0.09] for systematic reviews and 0.30 [0.19] for nonsystematic reviews) compared with throwaway journal articles (0.23 [0.03], F(2,391) = 280.8, P<.001). Throwaway journal articles used more tables (P =.02), figures (P =.01), photographs (P<.001), color (P<.001), and larger font sizes (P<.001) compared with peer-reviewed articles. Readability scores were more often in the college or higher range for peer-reviewed journals compared with the throwaway journal articles (104 [77.0%] vs 156 [64.2%]; P =.01). Peer-reviewed article titles were judged less relevant to clinical practice than throwaway journal article titles (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although lower in methodologic and reporting quality, review articles published in throwaway journals have characteristics that appeal to physician readers.

Consumer Behavior↗

PubMed2002

Knowledge, use of and attitudes towards peer support: a 2-year follow-up to the Prince's Trust survey.

This present study investigated how school peer support systems studied 2 years earlier in a survey funded by The Prince's Trust have evolved. In all, 413 pupils (actual and potential users of the systems) aged 13-14 (Year 9--Y9) and 15-16 (Year 11--Y11), 34 teachers in charge of systems and 80 peer supporters in 35 secondary schools were interviewed using structured schedules for the pupils and semi-structured ones for the teachers and peer supporters. All of these interviews focussed on the respondents' perceptions and experiences of the school's peer support system, including: the perceived benefits to users of the system; benefits to peer supporters; problems with the system and the attempts made to overcome them. There was widespread support for the systems and a strong sense that both teachers and peer supporters were increasingly confident about the value of their service. However, some problems remain, notably with regard to gender. The study documents difficulties in the recruitment and retention of boys as peer supporters because of peer pressure to conform to a "macho" image. The issue is discussed and some solutions presented.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Childhood depression: peer reactions to depression and life stress.

The present study investigated children's responses to a peer's childhood depression. Younger children in third and fourth grade and older children in fifth and sixth grade were exposed to one of four films. The four films portrayed a female peer who was either depressed or not depressed and who had experienced numerous recent life stresses or no recent life stress. Overall, children rated the depressed peers as less likeable and attractive, as engaging in fewer positive current and future behaviors, and as needing therapy more than a nondepressed peer. There was a tendency to rate the depressed peer with high life stress more positively than the depressed peer with low life stress; this tendency decreased with age. Girls rated all of the peers and especially the stressed peers more positively than did the boys. The results are discussed in terms of the implications of children's social interaction for the initiation or maintenance of childhood depression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2007

Biological, familial, and peer influences on dating in early adolescence.

The current study examined the joint contributions of pubertal maturation, parental monitoring, involvement in older peer groups, peer dating, and peer delinquency on dating in a sample of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample consisted of 784 adolescents (394 boys, 390 girls) enrolled in grades 5, 6, and 7 who were followed for one year. In addition to measures of pubertal maturation and parental monitoring, adolescents and their peer group members completed indices of dating and delinquency. Average dating and delinquency scores for each participant's peer group network were computed. Results indicated that it was the combination of pubertal maturation, peer delinquency, and peer dating that explained increases in early dating. For boys only, parental monitoring was a significant predictor. The more knowledgeable parents were about their boys' activities, the lower the number of dating activities reported. These results highlight the importance of considering the joint effects of these biological and social predictors in understanding early dating. When rapid changes occur in all three domains, early dating is most likely to ensue. The findings of this study have practical importance. Parents and professionals who work closely with youth should attend to the special vulnerability of early maturing adolescents in the face of peer pressure and to the important role of parental monitoring in regulating dating activities.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Peer contagion in interventions for children and adolescents: moving towards an understanding of the ecology and dynamics of change.

The influence of deviant peers on youth behavior is of growing concern, both in naturally occurring peer interactions and in interventions that might inadvertently exacerbate deviant development. The focus of this special issue is on understanding the moderating and mediating variables that account for peer contagion effects in interventions for youth. This set of nine innovative papers moves the field forward on three fronts: (1) Broadening the empirical basis for understanding the conditions under which peer contagion is more or less likely (that is, moderators of effects); (2) Identifying mechanisms that might account for peer contagion effects (mediators); and (3) Forging the methodological rigor that is needed to study peer contagion effects within the context of intervention trials. We propose an ecological framework for disentangling the effects of individuals, group interactions, and program contexts in understanding peer contagion effects. Finally, we suggest methodological enhancements to study peer contagion in intervention trials.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Grade changes in peer influence on adolescent cigarette smoking: a comparison of two measures.

The effects of peer influence on adolescent cigarette smoking were investigated in longitudinal study of 309 white, middle-class subjects in the 8th and 11th grades. Subjects provided data on their smoking behavior, the proportion of their friends who smoked, and the identity of their best friend. Data from the person named as best friend was used to measure peer smoking, rather than the adolescent's perceptions of the friend's smoking. Peer influence was defined as the difference between the subject's smoking behavior and that of their best friend. This definition (PI1) minimized the confounding of peer influence with selective association. The effects of peer influence on change in smoking behavior were found to be stronger for 8th than 11th graders and for boys than girls. When the proportion of friends who smoke (PI2) was used as the measure of peer influence, the effects of peer influence were stronger for 11th than 8th graders. The relative merits of the two measures are discussed, and the argument is made that the difference between friend and adolescent smoking is a more appropriate measure of peer influence than the proportion of friends who smoke.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Peer review time: how late is late in a small medical journal?

BACKGROUND: Timeliness is an important attribute of peer review because it brings information promptly to its users. This has become even more important with the development of on-line submission and on-line peer review. Small journals usually must rely on regular mail and traditional peer review. We evaluated the review time in a small medical journal outside of mainstream science. METHODS: We analyzed 1,346 editorial requests for manuscript peer review sent from the Croatian Medical Journal to 690 reviewers from February 1998 to December 2001. RESULTS: Peer reviewer response rate was 78.6% (1,057 of 1,346 requests for review) and median review time was 29 days (95% confidence interval [95% CI]=28-31 days). Of returned reviews, 554 (52.4%) arrived on time (before the deadline established by the editor) and the others arrived late. Median delay was 12 days (95% CI=10-15 days). There was no difference in delay for Croatian- and non-Croatian-authored manuscripts, but more reviews of articles on clinical medicine were delayed than those on public health. More reviews from non-Croatian or male reviewers were never returned to the editors. For reviews that arrived late, those from male reviewers were more delayed than those from female reviewers (median, 13 days, 95% CI=11-15 days vs. median, 8 days, 95% CI=5-12 days, respectively). Logistic regression analysis revealed that odds for reviewer's positive response to an editorial request for manuscript review were greater for female Croatian reviewers, who received up to three review requests. CONCLUSIONS: Peer review time in a small general medical journal may be comparable to review times in larger and more prestigious journals. Choice of reviewers may improve the expediency of peer review: editors from small journals may profit from building and educating local peer reviewers, bearing in mind that female reviewers may provide more expedient reviews.

Female↗

PubMed2001

Peer review.

Peer review is essential for ensuring quality medical care. In the 1980s a physician-plaintiff prevailed in lawsuit filed against peer reviewers who excluded the physician from a hospital's medical staff. The peer reviewers had acted to preserve their own economic interests. A multimillion-dollar verdict against the peer reviewers destroyed the community's only multispecialty practice and received national attention. Congress reacted by passing the Health Care Quality Improvement Act that granted sweeping, legal immunity for peer reviewers but also created the National Practitioner's Data Bank. The combination of the establishment of a public repository for physicians malpractice and medical staff privileging activity in combination with the near complete legal protection of peer reviewers has converted peer review from an evaluative to a punitive process. The peer review process and the laws that govern it should be reformed to regain its ability to improve and assure quality without being a threat to physicians.

Humans↗

PubMed2001

Peers, schools, and adolescent cigarette smoking.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of popularity, best friend smoking, and cigarette smoking within the peer networks on current smoking of seventh- through 12th-grade students. These factors were examined for adolescents attending schools with varying rates of student cigarette smoking. METHODS: This study used data from the saturated school sample of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative school-based sample. The sample for the present study was 2525 adolescents in Grades 7-12 who completed an in-school questionnaire and an in-home interview. Information from the in-school questionnaire was used to construct measures of school smoking prevalence and popularity. Using peer nominations from the in-home interview, best friend smoking, and peer network smoking exposure were constructed using the peers' own reports of their cigarette smoking. Multiple regression techniques were used to estimate the risk of current cigarette smoking as a function of popularity, best friend smoking, peer network smoking, and school smoking prevalence, and all first-order interactions between measures of peer and school smoking prevalence. RESULTS: Adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, parent education, school, and availability of cigarettes in the home, the risk of current smoking was significantly associated with peer networks in which at least half of the members smoked [odds ratio (OR) = 1.91], one or two best friends smoked (OR = 2.00), and with increasing rates of school smoking prevalence (OR = 1.73). In addition, there was a significant interaction of popularity and school smoking prevalence such that risk of current smoking was somewhat greater among popular students in schools with high smoking prevalence than among popular students in schools with low smoking prevalence. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that school environments are important contexts for understanding peer group influences on adolescent cigarette smoking.

Adolescent↗