Abstract:  Accumulating studies have examined the impact of peer selection and peer influence on adolescent delinquency via longitudinal social network analyses. This meta-analysis aims to synthesize the existing findings. A total of 22 papers that have used longitudinal social network analysis were identified, involving 30 independent samples (N = 27746). The results show that (1) the impacts of both peer selection and peer influence were significant but peer influence exerted stronger impacts; (2) peer selection exerted stronger influences during early stage than during the middle and late stages, whereas peer influence exerted stronger impacts during middle and late stages than during early stage (3) delinquent behavior type did not make a difference. (4) larger number of networks was associated with stronger influence of peer selection and peer influence.

Key words: adolescent delinquency, peer selection, peer influence, longitudinal social network analysis, meta-analysis