Presenter:

Noelle Molinari

Authors:

David Kalist, Noelle-Angelique Molinari

Chair: Dan Polsky; Discussant: Rosalie Pacula Tue June 6, 2006 10:45-12:15 Room 226

We examine how psychiatric disorders such as major depression and mild chronic depression (i.e., dysthymia) affect educational attainment, with the results presented separately for men and women. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV characterizes the psychiatric diagnoses. Using the first wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions 2001-2002, we find that early onset of psychiatric disorders, especially before the age of 19, negatively affects level of schooling. Estimates from logit regressions indicate that for men early onset dysthymia reduces the probability of finishing high school by approximately 17 percent, whereas early onset major depression reduces the probability by 8 percent. For women the effect of early onset dysthymia is estimated less precisely; however, the negative effect on schooling of early onset major depression is similar to men. In addition to estimating standard logit models, we estimate censored ordered logit models, which take into account that some of the individuals in the sample are currently attending school. We further present results, from survival analysis regressions, showing how the onset of psychiatric disorders affects time to graduation.

This paper also adds to the economic literature on suicide by controlling for suicide attempts and thoughts of suicide. In general, we find that attempted suicide is associated with lower levels of schooling.