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Increased Instruction Time and Stress-Related Health Problems among School Children

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Marcus
  • Simon Reif
  • Amelie Wuppermann
  • Amélie Rouche

Abstract

While several studies suggest that stress-related mental health problems among school children are related to specific elements of schooling, empirical evidence on this causal relationship is scarce. We examine a German schooling reform that increased weekly instruction time and study its effects on stress-related outpatient diagnoses from the universe of health claims data of the German Social Health Insurance. Exploiting the differential timing in the reform implementation across states, we show that the reform slightly increased stress-related health problems among school children. While increasing instruction time might increase student performance, it might have adverse effects in terms of additional stress.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Marcus & Simon Reif & Amelie Wuppermann & Amélie Rouche, 2019. "Increased Instruction Time and Stress-Related Health Problems among School Children," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1802, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1802
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yasmine Bekkouche & Kenneth Houngbedji & Oswald Koussihouede, 2022. "Rainy days and learning outcomes: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers DT/2022/07, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    2. Jakob Schwerter & Nicolai Netz & Nicolas Hubner, 2022. "Do school reforms shape study behavior at university? Evidence from an instructional time reform," Papers 2207.09843, arXiv.org.
    3. Schmitz, Hendrik & Tawiah, Beatrice Baaba, 2023. "Life-cycle health effects of compulsory schooling," Ruhr Economic Papers 1006, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Kamila Cygan-Rehm, 2022. "Lifetime Consequences of Lost Instructional Time in the Classroom: Evidence from Shortened School Years," CESifo Working Paper Series 9892, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stress; mental health; instruction time; G8 reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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