Economic Evaluation of Adolescent Alcohol Use and the Impact of Social Networks

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Key DFM Personnel

Marlon Mundt, PhD – Principal Investigator

Funding

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Summary

This study analyzes the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to determine the relationship between adolescent alcohol use, social networks and economic outcomes in labor markets, health care utilization and criminal activity.

Goal

The goals of this project are to (1) determine the interaction between adolescent alcohol use and adolescent social networks and the extent to which adolescent alcohol use and social networks drive labor market outcomes, such as wages and employment, in adulthood; (2) determine the extent to which adolescent alcohol use and social networks drive health care costs in adulthood; and (3) determine the extent to which adolescent alcohol use and social networks drive crime costs in adulthood.

Methodology

The study incorporates social network variables into an analytical model of labor, health care, and crime outcomes for adolescents using longitudinal data collected from a representative sample of middle school and high school students across the US.