“I Always Stay at My Friends’ Place”: How Peer Association Explains the Link Between Social Deprivation and Methamphetamine Use Intensity

This study incorporates peer salience and peer pressure in explaining why people experiencing social deprivation tend to use drugs in greater intensity. A total of 303 current methamphetamine users were recruited through respondent-driven sampling in Changsha, China. We constructed a deprivation indicator by socioeconomic levels and marginal statuses. We employed structural equation modeling to test the mediating roles of peer salience and peer pressure on the deprivation-drug association. We also conducted a qualitative discourse analysis ( n = 40) to triangulate and support the findings from quantitative analyses. We found social deprivation is indirectly associated with greater methamphetamine use through the full mediation of peer salience and peer pressure. Qualitative results indicate socially disadvantaged respondents often referred to peer groups as a paramount source of support in their lives. Policies may provide formal platforms of social support and economic mobility to interrupt the mechanisms that contribute to methamphetamine use.