Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/240424 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
WWZ Working Paper No. 2020/15
Publisher: 
University of Basel, Center of Business and Economics (WWZ), Basel
Abstract: 
Adolescent mental health is key for later well-being. Yet, causal evidence on environmental drivers of adolescent mental health is scant. We study how an important classroom feature - the gender composition in compulsory-school - affects mental health. We use Swedish administrative data (N=576,285) to link variation in gender composition across classrooms within cohorts to mental health. We find that a higher share of female peers in a classroom increases the incidence of mental health diagnoses, particularly among boys. The effect persists into adulthood. Peer composition is thus an important and persistent driver of mental health.
Subjects: 
school
gender
peer effects
mental health
JEL: 
I12
I19
I21
I31
J16
J24
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
518.95 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.