The Impact of Maternal Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use on Children's Behavior Problems: Evidence from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey..

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.