title: Alcohol use and crime: findings from a longitudinal sample of U.S. adolescents and young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A positive relationship between alcohol use and criminal activity has been well documented among adults, but fewer studies explore this relationship among adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using data from 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine alcohol use patterns and criminal activity from adolescence to young adulthood. Fixed-effects models partially address the potential endogeneity of alcohol use, and, because numerous studies indicate that males are more likely than females to engage in drinking and criminal activity, the analyses are segmented by gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We find a strong positive relationship between alcohol consumption, the commission of crimes, and criminal victimization for both genders. Various sensitivity analyses and robustness checks support this core finding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results have important policy implications, as public policy tools that aim to reduce drinking among adolescents could also reduce criminal activity. Moreover, effective alcohol abuse treatment may indirectly reduce delinquency and thus have greater long-term economic benefits than previously estimated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociobehavioral and Administrative Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Popovici
authors.forename: Jenny F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Homer
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000506:poisoning*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol