Department of Economics, University of Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA.
Addict Behav. 2010 Apr;35(4):337-42. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.12.002. Epub 2010 Jan 3.
In this paper we seek to empirically quantify the role of peer social networks in explaining drinking behavior among adolescents. Using data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents we utilize a multivariate structural model with school-level fixed effects to account for the problems of contextual effects, correlated effects and peer selection to purge the potential biases from the estimates of peer influence. Our peer group measures are drawn not only from the nomination of close friends, but also from classmates. Drinking behavior among the peer groups was constructed using the peers' own report of their alcohol consumption. Controlling for parent level characteristics, and other demographic parameters, we find that a 10% increase in the proportion of classmates who drink will increase the likelihood of drinking participation and frequency by approximately four percentage points. We also find evidence to show that the influence of close friends, while still significant, diminishes in magnitude after accounting for unobserved environmental confounders. Our findings support the literature that peer effects are important determinants of drinking behavior even after controlling for potential biases. Effective policy aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among adolescents would consider these significant peer effects.
在本文中，我们试图通过实证量化同伴社会网络在解释青少年饮酒行为方面的作用。我们利用来自全国代表性青少年样本的数据，采用带有学校层面固定效应的多元结构模型，以解决背景效应、相关效应和同伴选择的问题，从而消除同伴影响估计中的潜在偏差。我们的同伴群体测量不仅来自于亲密朋友的提名，还来自于同班同学。同伴群体的饮酒行为是通过同伴自己报告的饮酒量来构建的。在控制了家长层面的特征和其他人口统计参数后，我们发现，同班同学饮酒比例每增加 10%，饮酒参与率和饮酒频率就会增加约 4 个百分点。我们还发现证据表明，在考虑到未观察到的环境混杂因素后，尽管亲密朋友的影响仍然显著，但影响程度会减小。我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即即使在控制了潜在的偏差后，同伴效应也是饮酒行为的重要决定因素。旨在减少青少年饮酒的有效政策应该考虑到这些显著的同伴效应。
