Characteristics of Friends - Subject Follow-up

This measure appears in the following time-points: Follow06, Follow12, Follow18, Follow24, Follow30, Follow36, Follow48, Follow60, Follow72, Follow84.

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Related Construct

Friendships

Description of Measure

This set of questions focus on the subject's four closest friends and includes background questions about their history of arrest, mental health hospitalization, and drug use as well as the level of contact the subject has with these friends. These questions are supplemented by a separate measure establishing the quality of the relationships with these friends (see the "friendship quality" measure).

We compute the following summary variables:

Marker for friends 1 - 4 ever being arrested [S#Fr1_ArrestRec], [S#Fr2_ArrestRec], [S#Fr3_ArrestRec], and [S#Fr4_ArrestRec]
Marker for friends 1 - 4 ever in jail [S#Fr1_JailedRec], [S#Fr2_JailedRec], [S#Fr3_JailedRec], and [S#Fr4_JailedRec]
Marker for friends 1 - 4 ever used drugs [S#Fr1_DrugUseRec], [S#Fr2_DrugUseRec], [S#Fr3_DrugUseRec], and [S#Fr4_DrugUseRec]
Marker for friends 1 - 4 ever been in a mental hospital [S#Fr1_MHRecord], [S#Fr2_MHRecord], [S#Fr3_MHRecord], and [S#Fr4_MHRecord]
The proportion of the 4 closest friends who have been arrested [S#PFRARR]

Count of the number of friends arrested [s#frarr]
Count of the number of friends for which we have a report of arrest. That is, a count of the number of friends where the subject gives either a yes, no or "don't know" response. This serves as the denominator for the arrest proportion score [s#arrden]

(a proportion is used instead of a count because not all subjects have 4 friends)
The proportion of the 4 closest friends who have been in jail [S#PFRJAI]

Count of the number of friends jailed [s#frjail]
Count of the number of friends for which we have a report for being jailed. As above, this is a count of the number of friends where the subject gives either a yes, no or "dont know" response. This serves as the denominator for the jailed proportion score [s#jaiden]

The proportion of the 4 closest friends who have been in a mental hospital/unit [S#PFRMHO]

Count of the number of friends in a mental hospital [s#frmhos]
Count of the number of friends for which we have a report for being in a mental hospital. As above, this is a count of the number of friends where the subject gives either a yes, no or "don't know" response. This serves as the denominator for the mental hospital proportion score [s#mhoden]

The proportion of the 4 closest friends who have ever used drugs [S#PFRDRU]

Count of the number of friends that have used drugs [s#frdrug]
Count of the number of friends for which we have a report for drug use. As above, this is a count of the number of friends where the subject gives either a yes, no or "don't know" response. This serves as the denominator for the drug use proportion score [s#druden]

The following individual items are also available:

Number of close friends the subject reports having [S#PeerChar_NFrnd]
Whether each friend is the same as one mentioned in the last interview, found in: [S#Friends1_Sameas], [S#Friends2_Sameas], [S#Friends3_Sameas], [S#Friends4_Sameas]
Age of each friend, found in: [S#Friends1_AgeFr], [S#Friends2_AgeFr], [S#Friends3_AgeFr], [S#Friends4_AgeFr]
Gender of each friend, found in: [S#Friends1_GenFr], [S#Friends2_GenFr], [S#Friends3_GenFr], [S#Friends4_GenFr]
Frequency of contact with each friend, found in: [S#Friends1_Cont], [S#Friends2_Cont], [S#Friends3_Cont], [S#Friends4_Cont]

Data Issues

This measure was only administered if the subject reported having at least one friend (established in variable S#PeerChar_NFrnd).
Items asking about history of drug use (DruFr) were added to the interview in version 01.16 and are available beginning with the follow24 timepoint.
Items asking about history of mental health hospitalization (HosFr) were added to the interview in version 01.17 and are available beginning with the follow30 timepoint.

References

Items are an adaptation of: Pierce, G.P. (1994) the quality of relationships inventory: Assessing the interpersonal context of social support. In B.R. Burleson, T.L Albrecht & I.G. Sarason (Eds.), Communication of social support: Message, interactions, relationship and community (pp 247-266). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Pierce, G., Sarason, I.G., Sarason, B.R., Solky-Butzel, J.A., and Nagle, L.C. (1997). Assessing the quality of personal relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14, 339-356.