The Impact of PhD Studies on Mental Health—A Longitudinal Population Study

Sanna Bergvall (), Clara Fernström, Eva Ranehill and Anna Sandberg
Additional contact information
Sanna Bergvall: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden, http://www.economics.gu.se
Clara Fernström: Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University
Anna Sandberg: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University

No 846, Working Papers in Economics from University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Recent self-reported and cross-sectional survey evidence documents high levels of mental health problems among PhD students. We study the impact of PhD studies on mental health care uptake using Swedish administrative records of prescriptions for psychiatric medication for the full population of PhD students. First, we provide descriptive evidence that PhD students collect psychiatric medication at a higher rate than a matched sample of individuals holding a master’s degree, but at a lower rate than a matched sample from the general population. Second, we implement an event study analysis and document that, in the years preceding their PhD studies, prospective students collect psychiatric medication at a rate similar to that of a matched sample of individuals holding a master’s degree. However, following the start of PhD studies, the use of psychiatric medication among PhD students increasessubstantially. This upward trend continues throughout the course of PhD studies, with estimates showing a 40 percent increase by the fifth year compared to pre-PhD levels. After the fifth year, which represents the average duration of PhD studies in our sample, we observe a notable decrease in the utilization of psychiatric medication.

Keywords: Mental health; PhD studies; psychiatric medication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2024-09-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/83375 Full text (text/html)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of PhD Studies on Mental Health—A Longitudinal Population Study (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0846

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers in Economics from University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jessica Oscarsson ().