Peer group processes and adolescent health-related behavior: more than 'peer group pressure'?

This paper argues that 'peer group pressure' conveys an individualistic and hence inadequate account of the group processes involved in adolescents' adoption of health-related behaviours such as smoking and drinking. We describe traditional analyses of adolescent peer processes, illustrate how these contain a series of individualistic assumptions about peer interactions/social influence processes, and describe how these structure the analysis of adolescent health-related behaviour and health education interventions. We highlight the inadequacies of these analyses, outline an alternative and draw out its implications for health education.