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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
U.S. Counties With Higher Drug Overdose Rates Have Lower School Test Scores, Rajeev Darolia, Sam Owens, John Tyler
U.S. Counties With Higher Drug Overdose Rates Have Lower School Test Scores, Rajeev Darolia, Sam Owens, John Tyler
Population Health Research Brief Series
The impacts of the contemporary U.S. drug overdose crisis on child and family wellbeing have been profound. This brief describes the link between county-level opioid overdose rates and children’s test scores, finding that counties with higher overdose rates have lower average 3rd and 8th-grade test scores than counties with lower overdose rates. The relationship between higher overdose rates and lower test scores is particularly strong in rural counties. The places with the highest overdose rates and lowest test scores tend to be economically-disadvantaged, suggesting that economic investments may be needed to address the issue.
Counties With Higher Prescription Opioid Presence Have Slower Student Learning Rates, Jessica Drescher, Carrie Townley-Flores
Counties With Higher Prescription Opioid Presence Have Slower Student Learning Rates, Jessica Drescher, Carrie Townley-Flores
Population Health Research Brief Series
The adverse impacts of the U.S. opioid crisis have been documented in many domains, but surprisingly little attention has been directed to understanding how the opioid crisis has affected children’s educational outcomes. This brief shows that students in counties with high levels of opioid prescribing are learning more slowly over time than their peers in counties with low levels of opioid prescribing. In addition to directing more support to schools, the authors advocate for policies that address the underlying social conditions that lead to prescription opioid misuse.