IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/apeclt/v16y2009i17p1721-1729.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of substance use on the delinquent behaviour of adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Bisakha Sen
  • Susan Averett
  • Laura Argys
  • Daniel Rees

Abstract

Adolescents who drink or smoke marijuana are more likely to engage in delinquent activities than their peers who do not use substances, but it is not clear whether this association is causal or driven by other difficult-to-measure underlying factors such as an individual's discount rate. Using several empirical strategies that are designed to control for the influence of unobservables, we explore the relationship between substance use and four outcomes: fighting, property-destruction, theft, and running away. Our results suggest that, for males, the positive association between substance-use and these outcomes is probably spurious. In contrast, there is some evidence that female substance use may be causally related to destroying property, theft, and running away. These results are of importance to parents and policymakers who wish to reduce the incidence of delinquent behaviour of adolescents.

Suggested Citation

  • Bisakha Sen & Susan Averett & Laura Argys & Daniel Rees, 2009. "The effect of substance use on the delinquent behaviour of adolescents," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(17), pages 1721-1729.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:16:y:2009:i:17:p:1721-1729
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850701675532
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/13504850701675532&magic=repec&7C&7C8674ECAB8BB840C6AD35DC6213A474B5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13504850701675532?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Grossman & Robert Kaestner & Sara Markowitz, 2004. "Get High and Get Stupid: The Effect of Alcohol and Marijuana Use on Teen Sexual Behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 413-441, September.
    2. H. Naci Mocan & Daniel I. Rees, 2005. "Economic Conditions, Deterrence and Juvenile Crime: Evidence from Micro Data," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 7(2), pages 319-349.
    3. Tetsuji Yamada & Michael Kendix & Tadashi Yamada, 1993. "The Impact of Alcohol Consumption and Marijuana Use on High School Graduation," NBER Working Papers 4497, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Markowitz, Sara & Grossman, Michael, 2000. "The effects of beer taxes on physical child abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 271-282, March.
    5. Lowry, R. & Holtzman, D. & Truman, B.I. & Kann, L. & Collins, J.L. & Kolbe, L.J., 1994. "Substance use and HIV-related sexual behaviors among US high school students: Are they related?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(7), pages 1116-1120.
    6. Sara Markowitz & Pinka Chatterji & Robert Kaestner & Dhaval Dave, 2002. "Substance Use and Suicidal Behaviors Among Young Adults," NBER Working Papers 8810, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Michael P. Murray, 2006. "Avoiding Invalid Instruments and Coping with Weak Instruments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 111-132, Fall.
    8. Rees, Daniel I. & Argys, Laura M. & Averett, Susan L., 2001. "New evidence on the relationship between substance use and adolescent sexual behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 835-845, September.
    9. Tetsuji Yamada & Michael Kendix & Tadashi Yamada, 1996. "The impact of alcohol consumption and marijuana use on high school graduation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 5(1), pages 77-92, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael T. French & Ioana Popovici, 2011. "That instrument is lousy! In search of agreement when using instrumental variables estimation in substance use research," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 127-146, February.
    2. DeSimone, Jeff, 2010. "Binge Drinking And Risky Sex Among College Students," Working Papers 90483, American Association of Wine Economists.
    3. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Chris Ryan & Ana Sartbayeva, 2009. "Taking Chances: The Effect of Growing Up on Welfare on the Risky Behaviour of Young People," CEPR Discussion Papers 604, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    4. Eiji Yamamura, 2016. "Smokers’ Preference for Divorce and Extramarital Sex," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 59(2), pages 44-76.
    5. van Ours, Jan C. & Williams, Jenny, 2009. "Why parents worry: Initiation into cannabis use by youth and their educational attainment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 132-142, January.
    6. Rosalie Liccardo Pacula & Michael Grossman & Frank J. Chaloupka & Patrick M. O'Malley & Lloyd D. Johnston & Matthew C. Farrelly, 2001. "Marijuana and Youth," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 271-326, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • R. L. Pacula & M. Grossman & F. J. Chaloupka & P. M. O'Malley & Lloyd D. Johnston & Matthew C. Farrelly, 2000. "Marijuana and Youth," NBER Working Papers 7703, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel & Gil Lacruz, Marta & Oliva Moreno, Juan, 2009. "Are Drinkers Prone To Engage In Risky Sexual Behaviors?," Working Papers in Economic Theory 2009/07, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).
    8. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Gershenson, Seth, 2018. "High times: The effect of medical marijuana laws on student time use," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 142-153.
    9. BARONE, Adriana & NESE, Annamaria, 2017. "Investment in Education, Obesity and Health Behaviours," CELPE Discussion Papers 146, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    10. Charles Register & Donald Williams & Paul Grimes, 2001. "Adolescent Drug Use and Educational Attainment," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18.
    11. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Trinh Le & Duncan McVicar & Rong Zhang, 2015. "‘High’-School: The Relationship between Early Marijuana Use and Educational Outcomes," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 91(293), pages 247-266, June.
    12. Lisa Powell & Jenny Williams & Henry Wechsler, 2004. "Study habits and the level of alcohol use among college students," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 135-149.
    13. Jeremy W. Bray & Gary A. Zarkin & Chris Ringwalt & Junfeng Qi, 2000. "The relationship between marijuana initiation and dropping out of high school," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 9-18, January.
    14. Renna, Francesco, 2008. "Teens' alcohol consumption and schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 69-78, February.
    15. Michele Baggio & Alberto Chong & David Simon, 2018. "Sex, Drugs, and Baby Booms: Can Behavior Overcome Biology?," NBER Working Papers 25208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Pfeifer, Christian & Cornelißen, Thomas, 2010. "The impact of participation in sports on educational attainment--New evidence from Germany," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-103, February.
    17. Duarte, R. & Escario, J.J., 2006. "Alcohol abuse and truancy among Spanish adolescents: A count-data approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 179-187, April.
    18. Bisakha Sen, 2003. "Can Beer Taxes Affect Teen Pregnancy? Evidence Based on Teen Abortion Rates and Birth Rates," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(2), pages 328-343, October.
    19. Rashad, Inas & Kaestner, Robert, 2004. "Teenage sex, drugs and alcohol use: problems identifying the cause of risky behaviors," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 493-503, May.
    20. Rosalie Liccardo Pacula & Karen E. Ross & Jeanne Ringel, 2003. "Does Marijuana Use Impair Human Capital Formation?," NBER Working Papers 9963, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:16:y:2009:i:17:p:1721-1729. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEL20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.