@article{ref1,
title="Same-sex friendship, school gender composition, and substance use: a social network study of 50 European schools",
journal="Substance use and misuse",
year="2018",
author="Grard, Adeline and Kunst, Anton and Kuipers, Mirte and Richter, Matthias and Rimpelä, Arja and Federico, Bruno and Lorant, Vincent",
volume="53",
number="6",
pages="998-1007",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Other-sex friendship (girls with boy friends, boys with girl friends) has been associated with substance use, but how the gender composition of schools influences substance use has not been known. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the influence of other-sex friendship on substance use and took into account the proportion of each gender group at the schools, and hypothesized that other-sex friendship is associated with higher levels of substance use and that schools with a majority of males have higher levels of use than female-majority schools. <br><br>METHODS: In 2013, a social network survey was carried out in six European cities. In each city, schools were selected and 11,015 adolescents (aged 14-16) were recruited (participation rate = 79.4%). We collected data on smoking, binge drinking, cannabis use, and peer group composition. <br><br>RESULTS: Other-sex friendship was associated with smoking, binge drinking, and cannabis use for girls and with smoking for boys. Substance use was more frequent in schools with a majority of males. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS/Importance: Adolescent girls are best protected from substance use if they are in gender-balanced schools, but in same-sex friendship. This offers new perspectives on gender mixing at school. In schools with a majority of boys, more attention should be paid to girls, and gender-specific health promotion programs should be implemented. This European study is the first to take into account both individual (other-sex friendship) and contextual (gender composition of schools) gender interactions. It confirms previous studies on other-sex friendship, while shedding light on the influence of gender-normative contexts on substance use.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1082-6084",
doi="10.1080/10826084.2017.1392976",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2017.1392976"
}