Citation

Svensson M. Soc. Sci. Med. 2010; 70(11): 1858-1864.

Affiliation

Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.046

PMID

20236746

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.

Language: en