@article{ref1,
title="Exploring the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and problem drinking as captured by Google searches in the US",
journal="Social science and medicine (1982)",
year="2013",
author="Frijters, Paul and Johnston, David W. and Lordan, Grace and Shields, Michael A.",
volume="84",
number="",
pages="61-68",
abstract="There is considerable policy interest in the impact of macroeconomic conditions on health-related behaviours and outcomes. This paper sheds new light on this issue by exploring the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and an indicator of problem drinking derived from state-level data on alcoholism-related Google searches conducted in the US over the period 2004-2011. We find the current recessionary period coincided with an almost 20% increase in alcoholism-related searches. Controlling for state and time-effects, a 5% rise in unemployment is followed in the next 12 months by an approximate 15% increase in searches. The use of Internet searches to inform on health-related behaviours and outcomes is in its infancy; but we suggest that the data provides important real-time information for policy-makers and can help to overcome the under-reporting in surveys of sensitive information.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0277-9536",
doi="10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.01.028",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.01.028"
}