Macroeconomic conditions, mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden
(2018) NEKP01 20182Department of Economics
- Abstract
- In this paper, I seek to investigate the effect of economic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden. I investigate whether this effect differs across population subgroups, defined by age, sex, foreign background and educational attainment. In robustness analyses, I also investigate asymmetry in the effect of macroeconomic conditions on mental health and substance abuse, as well as the dynamics of this relationship. I use register data on all individuals aged 20 to 29 years during the calendar period 2001 to 2013 that includes information on inpatient and specialised outpatient hospitalisations as well as deaths. I am thus able to compare the effect of macroeconomic conditions across three “levels”... (More)
- In this paper, I seek to investigate the effect of economic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden. I investigate whether this effect differs across population subgroups, defined by age, sex, foreign background and educational attainment. In robustness analyses, I also investigate asymmetry in the effect of macroeconomic conditions on mental health and substance abuse, as well as the dynamics of this relationship. I use register data on all individuals aged 20 to 29 years during the calendar period 2001 to 2013 that includes information on inpatient and specialised outpatient hospitalisations as well as deaths. I am thus able to compare the effect of macroeconomic conditions across three “levels” of outcomes, from less extreme (outpatient hospitalisations) to more extreme (deaths). I use panel data methods with both year and county-level fixed effects to control for unobserved confounders that vary over time in the same way across all counties, and vary across counties in the same way over time. I find evidence of a pro-cyclical relationship between economic conditions and outpatient hospitalisations related to mental ill health and substance abuse, which is in contrast to previous findings. I also find some heterogeneity in the effects of macroeconomic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse, particularly with regards to educational attainment. I moreover find robust evidence of a dynamic relationship between macroeconomic conditions, mental ill health and substance abuse, which is obscured in investigations of the effect of contemporaneous macroeconomic conditions on health. Importantly I also find some evidence suggesting an increase in unmet need for mental health and substance abuse care during economic downturns. My findings highlight the need for future investigations into the dynamics of the effects of macroeconomic conditions, and a better understanding of the importance of structural (e.g. changes in healthcare spending) versus behavioural factors in the context of this relationship. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- In this paper, I seek to investigate the effect of economic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden. I investigate whether this effect differs across population subgroups, defined by age, sex, foreign background and educational attainment. In robustness analyses, I also investigate asymmetry in the effect of macroeconomic conditions on mental health and substance abuse, as well as the dynamics of this relationship. I use register data on all individuals aged 20 to 29 years during the calendar period 2001 to 2013 that includes information on inpatient and specialised outpatient hospitalisations as well as deaths. I am thus able to compare the effect of macroeconomic conditions across three “levels”... (More)
- In this paper, I seek to investigate the effect of economic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden. I investigate whether this effect differs across population subgroups, defined by age, sex, foreign background and educational attainment. In robustness analyses, I also investigate asymmetry in the effect of macroeconomic conditions on mental health and substance abuse, as well as the dynamics of this relationship. I use register data on all individuals aged 20 to 29 years during the calendar period 2001 to 2013 that includes information on inpatient and specialised outpatient hospitalisations as well as deaths. I am thus able to compare the effect of macroeconomic conditions across three “levels” of outcomes, from less extreme (outpatient hospitalisations) to more extreme (deaths). I use panel data methods with both year and county-level fixed effects to control for unobserved confounders that vary over time in the same way across all counties, and vary across counties in the same way over time. I find evidence of a pro-cyclical relationship between economic conditions and outpatient hospitalisations related to mental ill health and substance abuse, which is in contrast to previous findings. I also find some heterogeneity in the effects of macroeconomic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse, particularly with regards to educational attainment. I moreover find robust evidence of a dynamic relationship between macroeconomic conditions, mental ill health and substance abuse, which is obscured in investigations of the effect of contemporaneous macroeconomic conditions on health. Importantly I also find some evidence suggesting an increase in unmet need for mental health and substance abuse care during economic downturns. My findings highlight the need for future investigations into the dynamics of the effects of macroeconomic conditions, and a better understanding of the importance of structural (e.g. changes in healthcare spending) versus behavioural factors in the context of this relationship. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8960243
- author
- Spika, Devon Fontaine LU
- supervisor
-
- Ulf Gerdtham LU
- Gawain Heckley LU
- organization
- course
- NEKP01 20182
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Unemployment, business cycles, macroeconomic conditions, health, mental health, substance use, alcohol, narcotics, anxiety, depression
- language
- English
- id
- 8960243
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-29 09:08:20
- date last changed
- 2018-10-29 09:08:20
@misc{8960243,
abstract = {{In this paper, I seek to investigate the effect of economic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden. I investigate whether this effect differs across population subgroups, defined by age, sex, foreign background and educational attainment. In robustness analyses, I also investigate asymmetry in the effect of macroeconomic conditions on mental health and substance abuse, as well as the dynamics of this relationship. I use register data on all individuals aged 20 to 29 years during the calendar period 2001 to 2013 that includes information on inpatient and specialised outpatient hospitalisations as well as deaths. I am thus able to compare the effect of macroeconomic conditions across three “levels” of outcomes, from less extreme (outpatient hospitalisations) to more extreme (deaths). I use panel data methods with both year and county-level fixed effects to control for unobserved confounders that vary over time in the same way across all counties, and vary across counties in the same way over time. I find evidence of a pro-cyclical relationship between economic conditions and outpatient hospitalisations related to mental ill health and substance abuse, which is in contrast to previous findings. I also find some heterogeneity in the effects of macroeconomic conditions on mental ill health and substance abuse, particularly with regards to educational attainment. I moreover find robust evidence of a dynamic relationship between macroeconomic conditions, mental ill health and substance abuse, which is obscured in investigations of the effect of contemporaneous macroeconomic conditions on health. Importantly I also find some evidence suggesting an increase in unmet need for mental health and substance abuse care during economic downturns. My findings highlight the need for future investigations into the dynamics of the effects of macroeconomic conditions, and a better understanding of the importance of structural (e.g. changes in healthcare spending) versus behavioural factors in the context of this relationship.}},
author = {{Spika, Devon Fontaine}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Macroeconomic conditions, mental ill health and substance abuse among young adults in Sweden}},
year = {{2018}},
}