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Omitted Variable Bias
An intro to an especially sneaky bias that invades many regression models
From 2000 to 2013, a flood of research showed a striking correlation between the rate of risky behavior among adolescents, and how often they ate meals with their family.
Study after study seemed to reach the same conclusion:
The greater the number of meals per week that adolescents had with their family, the lower their odds of indulging in substance abuse, violence, delinquency, vandalism, and many other problem behaviors.
A higher frequency of family meals also correlated with reduced stress, reduced incidence of childhood depression, and reduced frequency of suicidal thoughts. Eating together correlated with increased self-esteem, and a generally increased emotional well-being among adolescents.
Soon, the media got wind of these results, and they were packaged and distributed as easy-to-consume sound bites, such as this one:
“Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do…