The Oral Contraceptive Pill and Adolescents’ Mental Health by Ana Costa-Ramón

Join us for the latest Applied Economics Research Seminar Series event, Autumn Term 2023.

Ana Costa-Ramón, from the Management School, University of Zurich, will present this seminar on The Oral Contraceptive Pill and Adolescents’ Mental Health.

Abstract

What is the impact of the oral contraceptive pill on the mental health of adolescent girls? Using administrative data from Denmark and exploiting the variation in the timing of pill initiation in an event study design, we find that the likelihood of a depression diagnosis and antidepressant use increases shortly after pill initiation. We then uncover substantial variation in primary care providers’ tendency to prescribe the pill to adolescents, unrelated to patient characteristics. Being assigned to a high prescribing physician strongly predicts pill use by age 16 and leads to worse mental health outcomes between ages 16-18.

The seminar will begin with a presentation and will end with a Q and A session.

It will be held in the Economics Common Room at 2pm on Thursday 26th October. This event is open to all levels of study and is also open to the public. To register your place and gain access to the webinar, please contact the seminar organisers.

This event is part of the Applied Economics Research Seminar Series.