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Consequences of ADHD Medication Use for Children's Outcomes

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  • Dalsgaard, Søren

    (Aarhus University)

  • Nielsen, Helena Skyt

    (Aarhus University)

  • Simonsen, Marianne

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

This paper estimates effects of early ADHD medication use on key human capital outcomes for children diagnosed with ADHD while using rarely available register based data on diagnoses and prescription drug purchases. Our main identification strategy exploits plausible exogenous assignment of children to hospitals with specialist physicians, while our analysis of health outcomes also allows for an individual level panel data strategy. We find that the behavior of specialist physicians varies considerably across hospitals and that the prescribing behavior does affect the probability that a given child is treated. Results show that children diagnosed with ADHD in pharmacological treatment have fewer hospital contacts if treated and that treatment to some extent protects against criminal behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Dalsgaard, Søren & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2014. "Consequences of ADHD Medication Use for Children's Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 8208, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8208
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Chorniy, Anna & Currie, Janet & Sonchak, Lyudmyla, 2018. "Exploding asthma and ADHD caseloads: The role of medicaid managed care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-15.
    3. Jill Furzer & Maripier Isabelle & Boriana Miloucheva & Audrey Laporte, 2023. "Public drug insurance, moral hazard and children's use of mental health medication: Latent mental health risk‐specific responses to lower out‐of‐pocket treatment costs," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 518-538, February.
    4. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    5. Dias, Mateus & Fontes, Luiz Felipe, 2020. "The Effects of a Large-Scale Mental-Health Reform: Evidence from Brazil," MPRA Paper 104753, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Chorniy, Anna & Kitashima, Leah, 2016. "Sex, drugs, and ADHD: The effects of ADHD pharmacological treatment on teens' risky behaviors," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 87-105.
    7. Rasmus Landersø & Peter Fallesen, 2021. "Psychiatric hospital admission and later crime, mental health, and labor market outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 165-179, January.
    8. Kelly Bedard & Allison Witman, 2020. "Family structure and the gender gap in ADHD," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1101-1129, December.
    9. Chorniy, Anna, 2016. "Sex, Drugs, and ADHD: The Effects of ADHD Pharmacological Treatment on Teens' Risky Behaviors," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145766, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Schwandt, Hannes & Wuppermann, Amelie, 2016. "The youngest get the pill: ADHD misdiagnosis in Germany, its regional correlates and international comparison," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 72-86.
    11. Mateus Dias & Luiz Felipe Fontes, 2020. "The Effects of a Large-Scale Mental Health Reform: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers 09, Instituto de Estudos para Políticas de Saúde.
    12. Jill Furzer & Maripier Isabelle & Boriana Miloucheva & Audrey Laporte, 2021. "Public drug insurance and children’s use of mental health medication: Risk-specific responses to lower out-of-pocket treatment costs," CIRANO Working Papers 2021s-34, CIRANO.
    13. Emely Ek Blæhr & Rikke Søgaard, 2021. "Instrumental variable‐based assessment of the effect of psychotherapy on suicide attempts, health, and economic outcomes in schizophrenia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 903-914, April.
    14. Liu, Yanrong & Hu, Feng, 2021. "Being bullied at school as a child, worse health as an adult? Evidence from China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    15. Deza, Monica & Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Solomon, Keisha, 2022. "Local access to mental healthcare and crime," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    16. Monica Deza & Thanh Lu & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2022. "Office‐based mental healthcare and juvenile arrests," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 69-91, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health; hospital variation; Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; treatment; crime;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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