We examine the impact of intensive social media use on puberty timing, particularly earlier menarche in girls. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a nationally representative longitudinal dataset tracking around 19,000 children in the UK, we analyse how digital engagement...

The secular trend of growth in height suddenly slowed for Americans born after the middle of the 20th century, and the health and human capital of these cohorts as adults appears to have declined, or at least stagnated, more broadly. This paper presents evidence that the physical growth of these...

This paper examines how an adolescent's relative socioeconomic status (SES) within their school influences their socioemotional development and well-being. Although peer effects on academic outcomes are well-documented, less is known about how an individual's socioeconomic rank among peers...

This study investigates the association between childhood parenting styles and the emergence of risk-taking behaviors in young adulthood, a critical life course transition. Utilizing data on risk-taking behaviors among college students, alongside variables reflecting parent-child relationships...

This paper estimates the long-term causal effects of music proficiency on emotional intelligence and mental health. Leveraging the staggered rollout of a school orchestra program as a quasi-experimental setting, we identify the causal impact of adolescent musical engagement. Our findings reveal...

This paper attempts to provide one of the first population-based causal estimates of the effect of air pollution on suicidal ideation - a key precursor to suicide attempt and completion - among school-age children. We use daily variations in the local wind direction as instruments to address...

We study the effect of having an older sister on the likelihood that girls in sub-Saharan Africa marry before reaching adulthood. Relying on the randomness of the firstborn sibling's sex, we show that having an older sister (as opposed to an older brother) reduces the likelihood of marrying...

We evaluate the impact of a therapy intervention on Nepali adolescents at risk of dropping out of school. Our randomized controlled trial is the largest of its kind (N = 1,707) and is novel in that participation does not require a preexisting diagnosis. Participation was high: 89 percent of...

This paper investigates whether adolescents' core self-evaluation (CSE), a broad personality construct capturing individuals' appraisal of their self-worth and capabilities, predicts interpersonal trust decades later. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the BCS70, we construct...

Summer Youth Employment Programs are known to have significant impacts on youth outcomes based on lotteries from oversubscribed programs. But most cities cannot use a lottery design due to heterogeneity across youth and jobs. How can programs achieve efficiency and equity under alternative...