Working Paper: NBER ID: w7692
Authors: Pinka Chatterji; Sara Markowitz
Abstract: This study uses data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to test for evidence of a causal relationship between maternal alcohol use, marijuana use and cocaine use, and children's behavior problems. Ordinary least squares results provide strong evidence that maternal substance use is associated with children's behavior problems. Models that account for the potential endogeneity of maternal substance use yield mixed results. Models estimated using instrumental variables (IV) methods are inconsistent with OLS findings. Child-specific and family-specific fixed effects models suggest that maternal alcohol, marijuana and cocaine use are associated with increases in behavior problems.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| maternal substance use (I12) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal alcohol use (I12) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal marijuana use (J13) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal cocaine use (J13) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal substance use (I12) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal substance use (I12) | children's behavior problems (J13) |
| maternal substance use (I12) | children's behavior problems (J13) |