Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft

A substantial literature has examined the impact of stress during the early stages of life on later-life health. This paper contributes to that literature by examining the later-life health impact of stress during adolescence and early adulthood, u...

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Main Authors: Cawley, John, de Walque, Damien, Grossman, Daniel
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/698981494942768893/Effect-of-stress-on-later-life-health-evidence-from-the-Vietnam-war-draft
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26755
id okr-10986-26755
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-267552021-06-08T14:42:46Z Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft Cawley, John de Walque, Damien Grossman, Daniel STRESS HEALTH OBESITY LONG-TERM HEALTH OUTCOMES VIETNAM WAR DRAFT A substantial literature has examined the impact of stress during the early stages of life on later-life health. This paper contributes to that literature by examining the later-life health impact of stress during adolescence and early adulthood, using a novel proxy for stress: risk of military induction in the United States during the Vietnam War. The paper estimates that a 10 percentage point (2 standard deviation) increase in induction risk in young adulthood is associated with a 1.5 percentage point (8 percent) increase in the probability of being obese, and a 1 percentage point (10 percent) increase in the probability of being in fair or poor health later in life. These findings do not appear to be due to cohort effects; the associations exist only for men who did not serve in the war, and are not present for women or men who did serve. These findings add to the evidence on the lasting consequences of stress, and indicate that induction risk during the Vietnam War may, in certain contexts, be an invalid instrument for education or marriage, because it appears to have a direct impact on health. 2017-05-24T16:32:16Z 2017-05-24T16:32:16Z 2017-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/698981494942768893/Effect-of-stress-on-later-life-health-evidence-from-the-Vietnam-war-draft http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26755 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8063 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper United States
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic STRESS
HEALTH
OBESITY
LONG-TERM HEALTH OUTCOMES
VIETNAM WAR DRAFT
spellingShingle STRESS
HEALTH
OBESITY
LONG-TERM HEALTH OUTCOMES
VIETNAM WAR DRAFT
Cawley, John
de Walque, Damien
Grossman, Daniel
Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
geographic_facet United States
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8063
description A substantial literature has examined the impact of stress during the early stages of life on later-life health. This paper contributes to that literature by examining the later-life health impact of stress during adolescence and early adulthood, using a novel proxy for stress: risk of military induction in the United States during the Vietnam War. The paper estimates that a 10 percentage point (2 standard deviation) increase in induction risk in young adulthood is associated with a 1.5 percentage point (8 percent) increase in the probability of being obese, and a 1 percentage point (10 percent) increase in the probability of being in fair or poor health later in life. These findings do not appear to be due to cohort effects; the associations exist only for men who did not serve in the war, and are not present for women or men who did serve. These findings add to the evidence on the lasting consequences of stress, and indicate that induction risk during the Vietnam War may, in certain contexts, be an invalid instrument for education or marriage, because it appears to have a direct impact on health.
format Working Paper
author Cawley, John
de Walque, Damien
Grossman, Daniel
author_facet Cawley, John
de Walque, Damien
Grossman, Daniel
author_sort Cawley, John
title Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
title_short Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
title_full Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
title_fullStr Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Stress on Later-Life Health : Evidence from the Vietnam War Draft
title_sort effect of stress on later-life health : evidence from the vietnam war draft
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/698981494942768893/Effect-of-stress-on-later-life-health-evidence-from-the-Vietnam-war-draft
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26755
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