Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/297238 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IFN Working Paper No. 1435
Version Description: 
Revised December 2023
Publisher: 
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm
Abstract: 
We study the mental health of PhD students in Sweden using comprehensive administrative data on prescriptions, specialist care visits, hospitalizations, and causes of death. We find about 7% (5%) of PhD students receive medication or diagnosis for depression (anxiety) in a given year. These prevalence rates are less than one-third of the corresponding survey-based prevalence rates reported in the literature, and even after adjusting for difference in methodology, 44% (72%) of the prevalence rates reported in the literature. We also document PhD students' mental health significantly worsens relative to their peers after they have entered the program. This deterioration is consistent with doctoral studies having a negative causal effect on mental health.
Subjects: 
PhD studies
Mental Health
Depression
Anxiety
Suicide
JEL: 
A23
I10
I23
I29
I31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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