IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/ecdecc/doi10.1086-722536.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fetal Origins of Mental Health: Evidence from Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Achyuta Adhvaryu
  • James Fenske
  • Namrata Kala
  • Anant Nyshadham

Abstract

Mental health disorders represent a substantial portion of the global disease burden, and the treatment gap is higher in developing countries. Accounting for location and year-of-birth fixed effects and using data on 19 African countries, we find temperature shocks in utero increase depressive symptoms in adulthood. Effects are present for several depressive symptoms and are greatest in younger cohorts.

Suggested Citation

  • Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske & Namrata Kala & Anant Nyshadham, 2024. "Fetal Origins of Mental Health: Evidence from Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(2), pages 493-515.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/722536
    DOI: 10.1086/722536
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/722536
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/722536
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/722536?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gabriella Conti & Christopher Hansman & James J. Heckman & Matthew F. X. Novak & Angela Ruggiero & Stephen J. Suomi, 2012. "Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity," Working Papers 2012-008, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Sharon Maccini & Dean Yang, 2009. "Under the Weather: Health, Schooling, and Economic Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 1006-1026, June.
    3. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2007. "From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 409-439.
    4. Olivier Deschênes & Michael Greenstone, 2007. "The Economic Impacts of Climate Change: Evidence from Agricultural Output and Random Fluctuations in Weather," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 354-385, March.
    5. Petra Persson & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2018. "Family Ruptures, Stress, and the Mental Health of the Next Generation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 1214-1252, April.
    6. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske & Anant Nyshadham, 2019. "Early Life Circumstance and Adult Mental Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(4), pages 1516-1549.
    7. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Namrata Kala & Anant Nyshadham, 2020. "The Light and the Heat: Productivity Co-Benefits of Energy-Saving Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 779-792, October.
    8. Alan I. Barreca, 2010. "The Long-Term Economic Impact of In Utero and Postnatal Exposure to Malaria," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(4), pages 865-892.
    9. Helen Berry & Kathryn Bowen & Tord Kjellstrom, 2010. "Climate change and mental health: a causal pathways framework," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(2), pages 123-132, April.
    10. Adrienne M. Lucas, 2010. "Malaria Eradication and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Paraguay and Sri Lanka," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 46-71, April.
    11. Hoyt Bleakley, 2010. "Malaria Eradication in the Americas: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Exposure," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 1-45, April.
    12. David Cutler & Winnie Fung & Michael Kremer & Monica Singhal & Tom Vogl, 2010. "Early-Life Malaria Exposure and Adult Outcomes: Evidence from Malaria Eradication in India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 72-94, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wilde, Joshua & Apouey, Bénédicte H. & Jung, Toni, 2017. "The effect of ambient temperature shocks during conception and early pregnancy on later life outcomes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 87-107.
    2. Cecchi, Francesco & Duchoslav, Jan, 2018. "The effect of prenatal stress on cooperation: Evidence from violent conflict in Uganda," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 35-56.
    3. Singhal, Saurabh, 2019. "Early life shocks and mental health: The long-term effect of war in Vietnam," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Habtamu Ali Beshir & Jean-François Maystadt, 2024. "Price Shocks and Human Capital: Timing Matters," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(4), pages 1567-1583.
    5. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Prashant Bharadwaj & James Fenske & Anant Nyshadham & Richard Stanley, 2024. "Dust and Death: Evidence from the West African Harmattan," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(659), pages 885-912.
    6. Aimable Nsabimana & Justice Tei Mensah, 2020. "Weather shocks and child nutrition: Evidence from Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-57, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Saurabh Singhal, 2018. "Early life shocks and mental health: The long-term effect of war in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 65, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Daniel Graeber & Daniel D. Schnitzlein, 2019. "The Effect of Maternal Education on Offspring's Mental Health," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1028, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    9. Kerui Geng, 2024. "Early Life Circumstance and Adult Psychological Well-being," Working Papers 2407, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    10. Lee, Gi-Eu & Loveridge, Scott, 2017. "Adjusting Time Scales to Assess Temperature’s Impact on Demand: A Case Study from the U.S. Residential Electricity Consumption," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258205, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fishman, Ram & Carrillo, Paul & Russ, Jason, 2019. "Long-term impacts of exposure to high temperatures on human capital and economic productivity," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 221-238.
    2. Venkataramani, Atheendar S., 2012. "Early life exposure to malaria and cognition in adulthood: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 767-780.
    3. Janet Currie & Tom Vogl, 2013. "Early-Life Health and Adult Circumstance in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 1-36, May.
    4. Samantha Rawlings, 2012. "Gender, race, and heterogeneous scarring and selection effects of epidemic malaria on human capital," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2012-01, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Venkataramani, Atheendar, 2011. "The Captain of the Men of Death and His Shadow: Long-Run Impacts of Early Life Pneumonia Exposure," IZA Discussion Papers 6041, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Veras, Henrique, 2022. "Wrong place, wrong time: The long-run effects of in-utero exposure to malaria on educational attainment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    7. Viviane Sanfelice, 2022. "Mosquito‐borne disease and newborn health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 73-93, January.
    8. Fink, Günther & Venkataramani, Atheendar S. & Zanolini, Arianna, 2021. "Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Hong, Sok Chul & Hwang, Inhyuk, 2024. "Race, immunity, and lifespan: Unraveling the effect of early-life exposure to malaria risk on lifespan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. repec:pri:rpdevs:currie_vogl_ar is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Jeremy Barofsky & Claire Chase & Tobenna Anekwe & Farshad Farzadfar, 2011. "The Economic Effects of Malaria Eradication: Evidence from an Intervention in Uganda," PGDA Working Papers 7011, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    12. Cirera, Laia & Castelló, Judit Vall & Brew, Joe & Saúte, Francisco & Sicuri, Elisa, 2022. "The impact of a malaria elimination initiative on school outcomes: Evidence from Southern Mozambique," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    13. Mochamad Pasha & Marc Rockmore & Chih Ming Tan & Dhanushka Thamarapani, 2023. "Early Life Exposure to Above Average Rainfall and Adult Mental Health," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(4), pages 692-717, August.
    14. Almond, Douglas & Currie, Janet & Herrmann, Mariesa, 2012. "From infant to mother: Early disease environment and future maternal health," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 475-483.
    15. Rodolfo Manuelli & Emircan Yurdagul, 2021. "AIDS, Human Capital and Development," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 42, pages 178-193, October.
    16. Tom S. Vogl, 2012. "Education and Health in Developing Economies," Working Papers 1453, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    17. Hsiu‐Han Shih & Ming‐Jen Lin, 2018. "Long‐term impacts of early‐life exposure to malaria: Evidence from Taiwan's Eradication Campaign in the 1950s," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(10), pages 1484-1512, October.
    18. David Cutler & Winnie Fung & Michael Kremer & Monica Singhal & Tom Vogl, 2010. "Early-Life Malaria Exposure and Adult Outcomes: Evidence from Malaria Eradication in India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 72-94, April.
    19. Simon Chang & Belton Fleisher & Seonghoon Kim & Shi-yung Liu, 2014. "Long-Term Health Effects of Malaria Exposure around Birth: Evidence from Colonial Taiwan," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(3), pages 519-536.
    20. Weil, David N., 2014. "Health and Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 3, pages 623-682, Elsevier.
    21. Maria Kuecken & Josselin Thuilliez & Marie-Anne Valfort, 2013. "Large-scale health interventions and education: Evidence from Roll Back Malaria in Africa," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 13075r, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, revised Jun 2015.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/722536. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/EDCC .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.