Working Paper: NBER ID: w31446
Authors: Aline Btikofer; Rita Ginja; Krzysztof Karbownik; Fanny Landaud
Abstract: We estimate health associations across generations and dynasties using information on healthcare visits from administrative data for the entire Norwegian population. A parental mental health diagnosis is associated with a 9.3 percentage point (40%) higher probability of a mental health diagnosis of their adolescent child. Intensive margin physical and mental health associations are similar, and dynastic estimates account for about 40% of the intergenerational persistence. We also show that a policy targeting additional health resources for the young children of adults diagnosed with mental health conditions reduced the parent-child mental health association by about 40%.
Keywords: mental health; intergenerational transmission; policy intervention; Norwegian population
JEL Codes: I14; I18; J12; J62
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental mental health diagnosis (I12) | Adolescent child mental health diagnosis (J13) |
| 2007 pilot program (I23) | Parent-child mental health association (I19) |
| Parental mental health diagnosis (I12) | Intergenerational persistence in mental health (I14) |
| 2007 pilot program (I23) | Effect of intervention on children (I24) |