American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Identification of the Effect of Depression on Risky Sexual Behavior: Exploiting a Natural Experiment
American Economic Review
vol. 102,
no. 3, May 2012
(pp. 570–74)
Abstract
Depression is pervasive in the US particularly among women. The costs in terms of direct medical costs and forgone earnings are substantial. This paper investigates an additional cost of depression. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we use a unique instrument, the attacks of September 11, which have been linked to depression, to identify the effect of depression on risky sexual behaviors. We find that depressed women are more likely to be sexually active, to engage in oral sex and to have sex without a condom, even after controlling for a rich set of covariates.Citation
Averett, Susan L., and Yang Wang. 2012. "Identification of the Effect of Depression on Risky Sexual Behavior: Exploiting a Natural Experiment." American Economic Review, 102 (3): 570–74. DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.3.570JEL Classification
- I12 Health Production