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Psychological Distress and Problem Drinking.

Authors :
Mentzakis, Emmanouil
Roberts, Bayard
Suhrcke, Marc
McKee, Martin
Source :
Health Economics; Mar2016, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p337-356, 20p
Publication Year :
2016

Abstract

We examine the influence of harmful alcohol use on mental health using a flexible two-step instrumental variables approach and household survey data from nine countries of the former Soviet Union. Using alcohol advertisements to instrument for alcohol, we show that problem drinking has a large detrimental effect on psychological distress, with problem drinkers exhibiting a 42% increase in the number of mental health problems reported and a 15% higher chance of reporting very poor mental health. Ignoring endogeneity leads to an underestimation of the damaging effect of excessive drinking. Findings suggest that more effective alcohol policies and treatment services in the former Soviet Union may have added benefits in terms of reducing poor mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
10579230
Volume :
25
Issue :
3
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Health Economics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
112685504
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3143