Alcohol consumption and social network ties among adolescents: evidence from Add Health

Although many studies have estimated the influence of peers on risky health behaviors, few have estimated the gains that adolescents receive from such behaviors, particularly in terms of social payoffs for complying with peer behavior. In this paper, we explore the extent to which alcohol consumption increases popularity of adolescents. Using data from a nationally-representative sample of adolescents, we estimate endogeneity-corrected models with school-level fixed effects to identify the effect of alcohol consumption on social network ties. We find that alcohol consumption leads to an increase in popularity, with the largest gains experienced by white males and females. Our results provide new evidence on the motivation behind adolescent drinking and have important implications for substance abuse interventions.