Peer influence occurs across a wide variety of behavioral domains, which is an important reason for peer-led interventions: interventions in which peers are involved in the delivery of the program. These programs are promising in combatting undesirable behaviors (e.g. risk behavior) and promoting desirable behavior (e.g. healthy lifestyle), but it was shown recently that the effectiveness of these programs is modest at best and the mechanisms underlying programs’ effectiveness are poorly understood. Research is needed that promotes understanding of the relative, cumulative, and interactive impacts of different types of peer relations and unpacks the various mechanisms underlying peer selection and influence. This has the potential to yield insights that advance theory and optimize peer-led interventions.

同伴影响发生在各种各样的行为领域，这是同伴主导干预的一个重要原因：同伴参与项目实施的干预。这些计划在打击不良行为（例如危险行为）和促进理想行为（例如健康生活方式）方面很有希望，但最近表明这些计划的有效性充其量是适度的，并且对计划有效性的潜在机制知之甚少。需要进行研究，以促进对不同类型同伴关系的相对、累积和交互影响的理解，并解开同伴选择和影响背后的各种机制。这有可能产生推进理论和优化同行主导干预的见解。