IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2025007.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Internet Access and Youth’s Mental Health and Well-being

Author

Listed:
  • Pham, Thi Trang

    (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn)

  • Wong, Pui Hang

    (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG, RS: UNU-MERIT Theme 3, RS: UNU-MERIT Theme 4)

Abstract

This paper provides one of the first robust evidence on the impact of internet access on adolescents’ well-being and mental health in a low-income country context. We find reduced subjective well-being and increased measures of mental health disorders among young people in Ethiopia during 2020-2021 following internet diffusion. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effects of internet access on mental health are unequal, with stronger negative impacts for adolescents from lower-wealth households. The mechanism analysis suggests that passive internet use, particularly among youth from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, might drive these negative outcomes. To address potential endogeneity, we employ instrumental variable techniques combined with fixed effects. The instrument is relevant based on network effect arguments and reasonably exogenous conditional on control variables and fixed effects. Our results offer policy implications regarding internet access and youth human capital development in the digital age and highlight the significance of social causes in shaping mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Pham, Thi Trang & Wong, Pui Hang, 2025. "Internet Access and Youth’s Mental Health and Well-being," MERIT Working Papers 2025-007, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2025007
    DOI: 10.53330/GYMA8538
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/241640245/wp2025-007.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.53330/GYMA8538?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ren Mu & Dominique van de Walle, 2011. "Rural Roads and Local Market Development in Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 709-734.
    2. Li, Xiaokang & Guo, Hongdong & Jin, Songqing & Ma, Wanglin & Zeng, Yiwu, 2021. "Do farmers gain internet dividends from E-commerce adoption? Evidence from China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Alessandro Gavazza & Mattia Nardotto & Tommaso Valletti, 2019. "Internet and Politics: Evidence from U.K. Local Elections and Local Government Policies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(5), pages 2092-2135.
    4. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    5. Luca Braghieri & Ro'ee Levy & Alexey Makarin, 2022. "Social Media and Mental Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(11), pages 3660-3693, November.
    6. Haile, Jemal Mohammed, 2024. "Social media for diffusion of conflict & violence in Ethiopia: Beyond gratifications," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    7. McDool, Emily & Powell, Philip & Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2020. "The internet and children’s psychological wellbeing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the First Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 11-14, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Sergei Guriev & Nikita Melnikov & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2021. "3G Internet and Confidence in Government," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(4), pages 2533-2613.
    10. Nadiya Kostyuk & Erik Gartzke, 2024. "Fighting in Cyberspace: Internet Access and the Substitutability of Cyber and Military Operations," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 68(1), pages 80-107, January.
    11. Matthew W. Ridley & Gautam Rao & Frank Schilbach & Vikram H. Patel, 2020. "Poverty, Depression, and Anxiety: Causal Evidence and Mechanisms," NBER Working Papers 27157, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. MARIANA Viollaz & Hernan Winkler, 2022. "Does the Internet Reduce Gender Gaps? The Case of Jordan," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(3), pages 436-453, March.
    13. Krueger, Alan B. & Schkade, David A., 2008. "The reliability of subjective well-being measures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(8-9), pages 1833-1845, August.
    14. Ofer Malamud & Cristian Pop-Eleches, 2011. "Home Computer Use and the Development of Human Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 987-1027.
    15. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    16. Bharati, Tushar & Jetter, Michael & Malik, Muhammad Nauman, 2024. "Types of communications technology and civil conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    17. Marta Favara & Richard Freund & Catherine Porter & Alan Sanchez & Douglas Scott, 2022. "Young Lives, Interrupted: Short-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adolescents in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(6), pages 1063-1080, June.
    18. Sofia Amaral-Garcia & Mattia Nardotto & Carol Propper & Tommaso Valletti, 2022. "Mums Go Online: Is the Internet Changing the Demand for Health Care?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1157-1173, November.
    19. Rebecca Hartje & Michael Hübler, 2017. "Smartphones support smart labour," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7), pages 467-471, April.
    20. Kyoung Min Kim & Dohyun Kim & Un Sun Chung, 2020. "Investigation of the Trend in Adolescent Mental Health and its Related Social Factors: A Multi-Year Cross-Sectional Study For 13 Years," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-14, July.
    21. Prerna Banati & Nicola Jones & Sally Youssef, 2020. "Intersecting Vulnerabilities: The Impacts of COVID-19 on the Psycho-emotional Lives of Young People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(5), pages 1613-1638, December.
    22. Castellacci, Fulvio & Tveito, Vegard, 2018. "Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 308-325.
    23. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck94-1, October.
    24. Felicia Huppert & Timothy So, 2013. "Erratum to: Flourishing Across Europe: Application of a New Conceptual Framework for Defining Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 1245-1246, February.
    25. Mark T. Buntaine & Michael Greenstone & Guojun He & Mengdi Liu & Shaoda Wang & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(3), pages 815-850, March.
    26. Daron Acemoglu & David Laibson & John A. List, 2014. "Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 523-527, May.
    27. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Appendix A, Sources and Methods, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 351-369, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Rahi Abouk & Scott Adams, 2013. "Texting Bans and Fatal Accidents on Roadways: Do They Work? Or Do Drivers Just React to Announcements of Bans?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 179-199, April.
    29. Daniel Björkegren, 2019. "The Adoption of Network Goods: Evidence from the Spread of Mobile Phones in Rwanda," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(3), pages 1033-1060.
    30. Callais, Justin T. & Young, Andrew T., 2023. "A rising tide that lifts all boats: An analysis of economic freedom and inequality using matching methods," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 744-777.
    31. Hernan Galperin & M. Fernanda Viecens, 2017. "Connected for Development? Theory and evidence about the impact of Internet technologies on poverty alleviation," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(3), pages 315-336, May.
    32. Pilar Beneito & Óscar Vicente-Chirivella, 2022. "Banning mobile phones in schools: evidence from regional-level policies in Spain," Applied Economic Analysis, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(90), pages 153-175, January.
    33. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    34. Bertschek Irene & Briglauer Wolfgang & Hüschelrath Kai & Kauf Benedikt & Niebel Thomas, 2015. "The Economic Impacts of Broadband Internet: A Survey," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(4), pages 201-227, December.
    35. Donati, Dante & Durante, Ruben & Sobbrio, Francesco & Zejcirovic, Dijana, 2022. "Lost in the Net? Broadband Internet and Youth Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 15202, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    36. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Introduction to the Second Edition of Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 3-10, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    37. Rotondi, Valentina & Stanca, Luca & Tomasuolo, Miriam, 2017. "Connecting alone: Smartphone use, quality of social interactions and well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 17-26.
    38. Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Richard Jolly & Frances Stewart & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2020. "COVID-19 and Children, in the North and in the South," Papers indipa1087, Innocenti Discussion Papers.
    39. Hunt Allcott & Luca Braghieri & Sarah Eichmeyer & Matthew Gentzkow, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 629-676, March.
    40. Abrahamsson, Sara, 2024. "Smartphone Bans, Student Outcomes and Mental Health," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 1/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    41. Marta Golin, 2022. "The effect of broadband Internet on the gender gap in mental health: Evidence from Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 6-21, October.
    42. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Summary and Conclusions, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 245-256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    43. Netta Achdut & Tehila Refaeli & Talia Meital Schwartz Tayri, 2021. "Subjective Poverty, Material Deprivation Indices and Psychological Distress Among Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Capital and Usage of Online Social Networks," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 863-887, December.
    44. Felicia Huppert & Timothy So, 2013. "Flourishing Across Europe: Application of a New Conceptual Framework for Defining Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 837-861, February.
    45. Callais, Justin, 2022. "Free to Grow? A Matching Methods Analysis of Economic Freedom in the United States," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 52(01), December.
    46. Zeyang Yang & Mark D. Griffiths & Zhihao Yan & Wenting Xu, 2021. "Can Watching Online Videos Be Addictive? A Qualitative Exploration of Online Video Watching among Chinese Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-14, July.
    47. Juan M. Villa, 2016. "diff: Simplifying the estimation of difference-in-differences treatment effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 16(1), pages 52-71, March.
    48. Ezra Golberstein & Gilbert Gonzales & Ellen Meara, 2019. "How do economic downturns affect the mental health of children? Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(8), pages 955-970, August.
    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. Sabatini, Fabio, 2023. "The Behavioral, Economic, and Political Impact of the Internet and Social Media: Empirical Challenges and Approaches," IZA Discussion Papers 16703, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Marta Golin, 2022. "The effect of broadband Internet on the gender gap in mental health: Evidence from Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 6-21, October.
    3. KonShik Kim, 2024. "Impacts of Early Youth Unemployment Self-Esteem and Quality of Life: Moderating Effects of Career Unemployment," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(5), pages 2871-2894, October.
    4. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    5. Angelo D’Andrea & Patrick Hitayezu & Mr. Kangni R Kpodar & Nicola Limodio & Mr. Andrea F Presbitero, 2024. "Mobile Internet, Collateral, and Banking," IMF Working Papers 2024/070, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Karina Colombo & Elisa Failache & Martina Querejeta, 2025. "High-speed internet and socioemotional wellbeing in adolescence and youth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-29, March.
    7. Lara Fleck & Melline Somers & Tom Stolp & Wim Groot & Frits Merode & Ralph Vries, 2025. "The Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase Employment in Education and Healthcare: A Systematic Literature Review," De Economist, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 1-45, March.
    8. Milan van den Heuvel & Jan Ryckebusch & Koen Schoors & Tarik Roukny, 2022. "Financial wealth and early income mobility," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Elias L Khalil, 2024. "Refined tastes, coarse tastes: Solving the stratification-of-goods enigma," Rationality and Society, , vol. 36(3), pages 373-400, August.
    10. Simona Mandile, 2025. "The Dark Side of Social Media: Recommender Algorithms and Mental Health," CESifo Working Paper Series 11648, CESifo.
    11. Abdiaziz Abdullahi Hussein (Mubarak), 2024. "Human Capital Investment in Universities: A Case Study of Gedo International University," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(11), pages 2298-2316, November.
    12. A. Bhuvaneskumar & Jithin Benedict & Mahalakshmi Sankar, 2024. "Does Financial Inclusion and Human Development Progress Sustainably? Evidence from Emerging Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 189-213, January.
    13. James Chowhan & Hossein Samavatyan & Farimah HakemZadeh, 2024. "Life Satisfaction and the Roles of Work, Family, and Social Factors in a Social Production Function Framework," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 1-24, February.
    14. Burlat, Héloïse, 2024. "Everybody’s got to learn sometime? A causal machine learning evaluation of training programmes for jobseekers in France," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Oana Pricopoaia & Adrian Lupașc & Iuliana Oana Mihai, 2024. "Implications of Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Entrepreneurship—Solutions to Combat Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Monika Maksim & Dominik Śliwicki, 2025. "Factors Determining Employee Loyalty During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, January.
    17. Radomir Ray Mitic & Enyu Zhou & Hironao Okahana, 2025. "Factors predicting PhD affirmation and regret in PhD holders," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2023. "The Longer Students Were Out of School, the Less They Learned," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10420, The World Bank.
    19. Sofia Amaral‐Garcia & Mattia Nardotto & Carol Propper & Tommaso Valletti, 2024. "Information and vaccine hesitancy: The role of broadband Internet," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(9), pages 1936-1948, September.
    20. Andrea Tesei & Filipe Campante & Ruben Durante, 2022. "Media and Social Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 69-91, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

    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:unm:unumer:2025007. 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: Ad Notten The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Ad Notten to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.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.