Field of Study and Mental Health in Adulthood

Abstract

We analyze whether field of study assigned at age 16 impacts mental health in adulthood. Using a regression discontinuity design that exploits GPA cutoffs, we find that admission to a preferred STEM field improves mental health, lowering both the incidence of antidepressant prescriptions and of mental health-related hospitalizations. As for mechanisms, suggestive evidence indicate that earnings explain about 40% of the estimates, but earlier proposed hypotheses based on schoolage peer characteristics such as ability rank, female shares or peer ability levels, have little explanatory power. Our findings imply that restrictions on individuals’ choices entail costs that may have been underestimated.