The Relationship between Conflicts, Economic Shocks, and Death with Depression, Economic Activities, and Human Capital Investment in Nigeria
This paper examines the links between adverse events, depression, and decision making in Nigeria. It investigates how events such as conflicts, shocks, and deaths can affect short-term perceptions of welfare, as well as longer term decisions on eco...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/647701545257537283/The-Relationship-between-Conflicts-Economic-Shocks-and-Death-with-Depression-Economic-Activities-and-Human-Capital-Investment-in-Nigeria http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31086 |
| Summary: | This paper examines the links between
adverse events, depression, and decision making in Nigeria.
It investigates how events such as conflicts, shocks, and
deaths can affect short-term perceptions of welfare, as well
as longer term decisions on economic activities and human
capital investments. First, the findings show that exposure
to conflict has the largest and strongest relationship with
depression, associated with a 15.3 percentage point increase
in the probability of reporting depressive symptoms (from a
base of 22 percent). This is equivalent to a reduction in
annual per capita income of around US$52 (in present day
terms). Second, the study randomized the timing of the
module on adverse events with respect to the mental health
module. The analysis finds that individuals who were
reminded about their history of adverse events (provided
that they had one) have a 6.5 percentage point higher
probability of reporting depressive symptoms. The final sets
of results show that depression is associated with lower
labor force participation and child educational investment.
People with depressive symptoms are 8 percentage points less
likely to work; this is driven by a reduction in engagement
in agricultural activities for men and self-employment for
women. In addition, households with a parent exhibiting
depressive symptoms spend 20 percentage points less on
education. These results suggest that there is a direct link
between mental health, welfare perceptions, and decision
making, beyond the indirect link via exposure to adverse effects. |
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