(Breaking) Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health

Abstract

We estimate health associations across generations using information on healthcare visits from administrative data for the entire Norwegian population. A parental mental health diagnosis is associated with a 9.3 percentage point (40 percent) higher probability of a mental health diagnosis of their adolescent child. Intensive margin physical and mental health associations are similar, and extended family estimates account for 42 percent of the intergenerational persistence. We also show that a policy targeting additional health resources for the young children of adults diagnosed with mental health conditions reduced the parent–child mental health association by 39 percent.