How do economic downturns affect the mental health of children? Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey
利用2001-2013年美国国民健康访问调查数据，发现失业率上升和房价下跌会显著恶化儿童及青少年的心理健康，并增加因情绪问题使用特殊教育服务的比例，且这种影响在几乎所有子群体中都存在。
Research linking economic conditions and health often does not consider children's mental health problems, which are the most common and consequential health issues for children and adolescents. We examine the effects of unemployment rates and housing prices on well-validated child and adolescent mental health outcomes and use of special education services for emotional problems in the 2001-2013 National Health Interview Survey. We find that the effects of economic conditions on children's mental health are clinically and economically meaningful; children's mental health outcomes worsen as the economy weakens. The effects of economic conditions on child and adolescent mental health are pervasive, found in almost every subgroup that we examine. The use of special education services for emotional problems also rises when economic conditions worsen. Our analyses of possible mechanisms that link economic conditions to child mental health suggest that parental unemployment cannot fully explain the relationship between economic conditions and child mental health.