Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/260305 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2020:13
Publisher: 
Lund University, School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Lund
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: 
gender
peer effects
mental health
JEL: 
I12
I19
I21
I31
J16
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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