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The Role of Friends in the Opioid Epidemic

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Abstract

The role of friends in the US opioid epidemic is examined. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), adults aged 25-34 and their high school best friends are focused on. An instrumental variable technique is employed to estimate peer effects in opioid misuse. Severe injuries in the previous year are used as an instrument for opioid misuse in order to estimate the causal impact of someone misusing opioids on the probability that their best friends also misuse. The estimated peer effects are significant: Having a best friend with a reported serious injury in the previous year increases the probability of own opioid misuse by around 7 percentage points in a population where 17 percent ever misuses opioids. The effect is driven by individuals without a college degree and those who live in the same county as their best friends.

Suggested Citation

  • Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Karen A. Kopecky, 2024. "The Role of Friends in the Opioid Epidemic," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 38, Economie d'Avant Garde.
    • Handle: RePEc:eag:rereps:38
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    opioid; friends; instrumental variables; Add Health; severe injuries; peer-group effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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