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What Factors Are Associated with the Decline in Young People’s Mental Health During the Early Stages of the Covid Pandemic?

Author

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  • David (David Patrick) Madden

Abstract

The Covid pandemic arrived in Ireland on February 29, 2020. In the following weeks various restrictions were introduced to stem the spread of the disease. Anxiety over the spread of the disease and over the restrictions introduced led to concerns regarding mental health. This paper uses the special Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey of young adults aged around 23 in December 2020 to examines the change in mental health compared to the last pre-Covid GUI survey, wave 4. In particular, it applies machine learning (ML) techniques to examine what variables are associated with the transition into depression between the two surveys. Mental health problems in wave 4 are found to play the most significant role with little effect for socioeconomic variables.

Suggested Citation

  • David (David Patrick) Madden, 2025. "What Factors Are Associated with the Decline in Young People’s Mental Health During the Early Stages of the Covid Pandemic?," Working Papers 202504, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202504
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/31860
    File Function: First version, 2025
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    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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