IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_12802.html

Child Disability and Effects on Sibling Mental Health

Author

Listed:
  • Janet Currie
  • N. Meltem Daysal
  • Mette Gørtz
  • Jonas Hirani
  • Jonathan Zhang

Abstract

We ask how a younger sibling’s physical disability affects sibling mental health using Danish register data on families with three or more children. Difference-in-difference models compare first- and second-born children when the third-born does or does not have a disability. Use of mental health services increases 13% among second-born children, with a 23% increase in psychiatric visits and an 18% increase in use of psychiatric medications. Effects are concentrated in households where the mother has less than high school and persist after conditioning on child test scores. Parental responses suggest that caregiving demands, stress, and strained resources are potential mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Janet Currie & N. Meltem Daysal & Mette Gørtz & Jonas Hirani & Jonathan Zhang, 2026. "Child Disability and Effects on Sibling Mental Health," CESifo Working Paper Series 12802, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12802
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp12802.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aline Bütikofer & Rita Ginja & Katrine V Løken & Fanny Landaud, 2023. "Higher-Achievement Schools, Peers and Mental Health," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(655), pages 2580-2613.
    2. Achyuta Adhvaryu & N. Meltem Daysal & Snaebjorn Gunnsteinsson & Teresa Molina & Herdis Steingrimsdottir, 2023. "Child Health, Parental Well-Being, and the Social Safety Net," CESifo Working Paper Series 10418, CESifo.
    3. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    4. Cheti Nicoletti & Birgitta Rabe, 2019. "Sibling spillover effects in school achievement," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 482-501, June.
    5. Petter Lundborg & Carl Hampus Lyttkens & Paul Nystedt, 2016. "The Effect of Schooling on Mortality: New Evidence From 50,000 Swedish Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1135-1168, August.
    6. Randall Akee & William Copeland & Emilia Simeonova, 2024. "Child Mental Health, Family Circumstance, and Long-Term Success: The Effect of Household Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(S), pages 77-107.
    7. Gensowski, Miriam & Gørtz, Mette, 2024. "The education-health gradient: Revisiting the role of socio-emotional skills," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Behrman, Jere R & Pollak, Robert A & Taubman, Paul, 1982. "Parental Preferences and Provision for Progeny," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(1), pages 52-73, February.
    9. Gordon B. Dahl & Katrine V. L?ken & Magne Mogstad, 2014. "Peer Effects in Program Participation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2049-2074, July.
    10. Damon Clark & Heather Royer, 2013. "The Effect of Education on Adult Mortality and Health: Evidence from Britain," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2087-2120, October.
    11. Janet Currie, 2025. "Investing in Children to Address the Child Mental Health Crisis," NBER Working Papers 33632, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Breining, Sanni Nørgaard, 2014. "The presence of ADHD: Spillovers between siblings," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 469-473.
    13. Manasi Deshpande, 2016. "Does Welfare Inhibit Success? The Long-Term Effects of Removing Low-Income Youth from the Disability Rolls," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3300-3330, November.
    14. Sandra E Black & Sanni Breining & David N Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen, 2021. "Sibling Spillovers [Endowments at birth and parents’ investment in children]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 101-128.
      • Sandra E. Black & Sanni Breining & David N. Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen & Helena Skyt Nielsen, 2017. "Sibling Spillovers," CESifo Working Paper Series 6348, CESifo.
      • Sandra E. Black & Sanni Breining & David N. Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Jeffrey Roth & Marianne Simonsen, 2017. "Sibling Spillovers," NBER Working Papers 23062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Wüst, Miriam, 2024. "Reminder design and childhood vaccination coverage," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    16. Bingley, Paul & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Ovidi, Marco, 2023. "When It Hurts the Most: Timing of Parental Job Loss and a Child's Education," IZA Discussion Papers 16367, IZA Network @ LISER.
    17. Joensen, Juanna Schrøter & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Spillovers in education choice," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 158-183.
    18. 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.
    19. Petra Persson & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2018. "Family Ruptures, Stress, and the Mental Health of the Next Generation: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 1256-1263, April.
    20. Elizabeth T. Powers, 2003. "Children’s Health and Maternal Work Activity: Estimates under Alternative Disability Definitions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(3).
    21. Currie, Janet & Kurdyak, Paul & Zhang, Jonathan, 2024. "Socioeconomic status and access to mental health care: The case of psychiatric medications for children in Ontario Canada," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    22. Joseph Price, 2008. "Parent-Child Quality Time: Does Birth Order Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(1).
    23. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2016. "Does Grief Transfer across Generations? Bereavements during Pregnancy and Child Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 193-223, January.
    24. Kvist, Anette Primdal & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2013. "The importance of children's ADHD for parents' relationship stability and labor supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 30-38.
    25. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881.
    26. Lleras-Muney, Adriana & Price, Joseph & Yue, Dahai, 2022. "The association between educational attainment and longevity using individual-level data from the 1940 census," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    27. Douglas Almond & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2011. "Health Capital and the Prenatal Environment: The Effect of Ramadan Observance during Pregnancy," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 56-85, October.
    28. Sarah Baird & Jacobus de Hoop & Berk Özler, 2013. "Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 370-403.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hoa Vu, 2024. "I wish I were born in another time: Unintended consequences of immigration enforcement on birth outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 345-362, February.
    2. Chen, Xi & Yan, Binjian & Gill, Thomas M., 2020. "Childhood Circumstances and Health Inequality in Old Age: Comparative Evidence from China and the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 13460, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Falk A C Voit & Eero Kajantie & Sakari Lemola & Katri Räikkönen & Dieter Wolke & Daniel D Schnitzlein, 2022. "Maternal mental health and adverse birth outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(8), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Peter, Noemi & Lundborg, Petter & Mikkelsen, Sara & Webbink, Dinand, 2018. "The effect of a sibling’s gender on earnings and family formation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 61-78.
    5. von Hinke, Stephanie & Sørensen, Emil N., 2023. "The long-term effects of early-life pollution exposure: Evidence from the London smog," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    6. Peter, Noemi & Lundborg, Petter & Webbink, Dinand, 2015. "The Effect of a Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 9128, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Sulin Sardoschau, 2023. "In-utero Exposure to Violence and Child Health in Iraq," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 452, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    8. Zhou, Weina & Wang, Shun, 2023. "Early childhood health shocks, classroom environment, and social-emotional outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Xi Chen & Binjian Yan & Thomas M. Gill, 2022. "Childhood Circumstances and Health Inequality in Old Age: Comparative Evidence from China and the USA," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 689-716, April.
    10. Sulin Sardoschau, 2024. "In utero exposure to violence and child health in Iraq," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-31, June.
    11. Berthelon, Matias & Kruger, Diana & Sanchez, Rafael, 2021. "Maternal stress during pregnancy and early childhood development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    12. Humlum, Maria Knoth & Morthorst, Marius Opstrup & Thingholm, Peter Rønø, 2024. "Sibling spillovers and the choice to get vaccinated: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2020. "Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 261-320.
    14. Kreiner, Claus Thustrup & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik, 2020. "Neonatal health of parents and cognitive development of children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Aline Bütikofer & Deirdre Coy & Orla Doyle & Rita Ginja, 2024. "The Consequences of Miscarriage on Parental Investments," CESifo Working Paper Series 11003, CESifo.
    17. Christian Posso & Jorge Tamayo & Arlen Guarin & Estefania Saravia, 2024. "Luck of the Draw: The Causal Effect of Physicians on Birth Outcomes," Borradores de Economia 1269, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    18. Nilsson, J Peter & Linnros, Evelina, 2025. "Prenatal Conditions and Midlife Mental Health: Evidence from an Alcohol Policy Experiment," Working Papers in Economics and Statistics 2/2025, Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Economics and Statistics.
    19. Gensowski, Miriam & Gørtz, Mette, 2024. "The education-health gradient: Revisiting the role of socio-emotional skills," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    20. Sulin Sardoschau, 2019. "Children of War: In-Utero Stress and Child Health in Iraq," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-02383137, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_12802. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    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.