Identifying at-Risk Teens: Peer Crowd Segmentation and Marijuana Use from a Statewide Representative Survey

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Peer crowds, which are macro-level connections between peer groups that transcend geography, are known to influence clothing styles, friend groups, norms, values, and beliefs. Peer crowds have also been shown to influence youth behaviors, including risky health behaviors such as marijuana use. As such, peer crowd segmentation may be a useful tool for identifying high-risk groups of youth in need of targeted health marketing strategies. The research described in this presentation was designed to measure peer crowd influence and marijuana risk among Virginia youth. The goal was to identify the peer crowds with the highest-risk teens for future targeted interventions.

Methods and Results (informing the conceptual analysis): State-wide representative data from the 2015 Virginia Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (n = 5,043 high school students) measured marijuana use across five teen peer crowds: Mainstream, Popular, Hip Hop, Alternative, and Country. Data were collected on behalf of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth via a school-based survey. A photo-based segmentation tool was included to measure peer crowd influence. The tool featured 60 photos of teens from various peer crowds, and asked youth to select those who most and least fit with their group of friends as a means of measuring peer crowd influence.

While overall teen marijuana use was 15.8%, Hip Hop teens were significantly more likely to have smoked marijuana in the past 30 days at 34.2% (P<.01). Popular (15.3%) and Alternative (15.0%) were at average risk, while Mainstream (5.9%) and Country (6.2%) teens were at significantly lower risk (P<.01). Risk levels for other, related behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs will also be reported.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the value of peer crowd segmentation in identifying high-risk youth most in need of interventions. In Virginia, although the Hip Hop peer crowd is relatively smaller than Preppy and Mainstream, they are the highest risk group for youth marijuana use, and influence from this peer crowd accounts for the bulk of youth marijuana use.

Implications for research and/or practice: Peer crowd segmentation can help interventions focus on the highest-risk peer crowd audiences, which is a more efficient and effective use of funds than trying to reach all teens at once. Peer crowd-targeted campaigns do not speak to “everyone”, but rather speak directly to high-risk teens in a way that resonates and creates measureable impact. Peer crowd segmentation has been used successfully in dozens of public health campaigns, ranging from the FDA to community based organizations, targeting the high-risk peer crowd to shift social norms around health behaviors in a culturally-relevant and authentic manner. Understanding the risk levels and lifestyles of different peer crowds can help marijuana prevention programs reach their intended audiences more effectively.