Neural responses to peers moderate conversation-drinking associations in daily life.

ABSTRACT: Conversations shape future behaviors, particularly among young adults. However, young adults vary widely in their susceptibility to peer influence. What neural processes relate to this susceptibility? We examined whether activity in brain regions associated with social rewards and making sense of others' minds relates to a common health behavior-drinking, following conversations about alcohol. We studied ten social groups of college students (N = 104 students; 4760 total observations) across two university campuses. We collected whole-brain fMRI data while participants viewed photographs of peers with whom they tended to drink at varying frequencies. Next, using ecological momentary assessment, we tracked alcohol conversations and drinking twice daily for 28 days. On average, talking about

SUBMITTER: Jovanova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12290041 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature