Pinar Keskin, Wellesley College - Early Childhood Conditions and Adolescent Mental Health

Title: Early Childhood Conditions and Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract: We investigate how early life circumstances induced by trade liberalization affect adolescent mental health in China. We find that children born in prefectures more exposed to an exogenous change in international trade policy experienced a significant relative decline in the incidence of severe depression during adolescence, as classified by the CES-D scale. We show that these results are not driven by pre-existing trends in severe depression incidence and that the estimated relationships are robust to controlling for initial prefecture attributes and other policy changes. Improvements in parental income, early childhood investments, and maternal care provision are likely operative channels of impact.

Presenter: Pinar Keskin, Wellesley College

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