Field of Study and Mental Health in Adulthood

Anders Stenberg and Simona Tudor

No 1/2024, SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics from Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research

Abstract: We analyze whether field of study assigned at age 16 impacts mental health in adulthood. Using a regression discontinuity design that exploits GPA cutoffs, we find that admission to the preferred study field improves mental health, lowering both the incidence of antidepressant prescriptions and of mental health-related hospitalizations. Engineering contributes strongly but not uniquely to the positive results. As for mechanisms, earnings explain 40% of the estimates, but earlier proposed hypotheses based on school-age peer characteristics have little explanatory power. Our findings imply that restrictions on individuals’ choices, to improve human capital allocations, entail costs that may have been underestimated.

Keywords: field of study; health; secondary education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I21 I24 J24 J28 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 77 pages
Date: 2023-12-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-mac
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Related works:
Working Paper: Field of Study and Mental Health in Adulthood (2024)
Working Paper: Field of Study and Mental Health in Adulthood (2023)
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