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Alcohol use and social interactions among adolescents in Sweden: Do peer effects exist within and/or between the majority population and immigrants?

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  • Svensson, Mikael

Abstract

Are adolescents who attend schools with a high level of alcohol use and binge drinking more likely to use alcohol and binge drink themselves? This paper analyzes peer effects in adolescent drinking based on a survey of 13,070 adolescents conducted in Sweden in 2005. The empirical analysis uses a multi-level logistic model to account for non-observable heterogeneity between the schools and the results show that attending a school with a high level of alcohol use and frequent binge drinking is a strong predictor of alcohol use and binge drinking for the individual. Hardly any significant interaction effects are detected, implying that peer influence is similar across different adolescent sub-groups. Looking at adolescents with different ethnic backgrounds, it is found that the drinking-pattern of the Swedish majority population has a significant effect on drinking by Swedish individuals and immigrants from Nordic and European countries, but no effect on drinking by immigrants from non-European countries.

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  • Svensson, Mikael, 2010. "Alcohol use and social interactions among adolescents in Sweden: Do peer effects exist within and/or between the majority population and immigrants?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1858-1864, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:11:p:1858-1864
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ryota Nakamura & Marc Suhrcke & Daniel John Zizzo, 2017. "A triple test for behavioral economics models and public health policy," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 513-533, December.

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