Work

Family Ruptures, Stress, and the Mental Health of the Next Generation

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: This paper studies how in utero exposure to maternal stress from family ruptures affects later mental health. We find that prenatal exposure to the death of a maternal relative increases take-up of ADHD medications during childhood and anti-anxiety and depression medications in adulthood. Further, family ruptures during pregnancy depress birth outcomes and raise the risk of perinatal complications necessitating hospitalization. Our results suggest large welfare gains from preventing fetal stress from family ruptures and possibly from economically induced stressors such as unemployment. They further suggest that greater stress exposure among the poor may partially explain the intergenerational persistence of poverty.

Source: American Economic Review

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20141406

Authors: Petra Persson, Maya Rossin-Slater

Institutions: National Bureau of Economic Research, Stanford University, Stanford Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences