The Effect of the Economic Crisis on Adolescents’ Perceived Health and Risk Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis

Néboa Zozaya and Laura Vallejo
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Néboa Zozaya: Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Calle Saulo Torón, 4 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas, Spain
Laura Vallejo: Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Calle Saulo Torón, 4 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Previous studies have analyzed the impact of economic crises on adult’s health and lifestyles, but evidence among children and adolescents is limited. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of the economic crisis on self-perceived health and some risk behaviors in the Spanish adolescent population. Methods: We used data from four waves (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey in Spain. Separate multilevel logistic and linear regression models were applied for health complaints, self-rated health, life satisfaction, smoking, alcohol consumption, and breakfast skipping. Annual change in Spanish regional unemployment rates was used as a proxy of the economic crisis. An increasing set of control variables were included, consisting of individual, socioeconomic, and family and peer relationships indicators. Median odds ratios were estimated to quantify the cross-region and cross-school variation. Results: Increases in unemployment rates were linked to a higher risk of poorer health and bad habits in the simplest models. The effect was no longer statistically significant when indicators of family and peer relationships were included, suggesting a protective effect against the impact of the economic crisis. Our findings also show that schools had a larger effect on health and lifestyles than regions. Conclusion: The child’s social context—family, peers, school, and region—play an important role on the effects of the economic crisis on health and risk behaviors.

Keywords: HBSC; economic crisis; recession; health; lifestyles; risk behaviors; children; teenagers; adolescents; multilevel analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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