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High Speed Internet and the Widening Gender Gap in Adolescent Mental Health: Evidence from Hospital Records

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High Speed Internet and the Widening Gender Gap in Adolescent Mental Health.pdf (2.08 MB)
Date
2022-05
Authors
Arenas Arroyo, Esther
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Court
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IZA
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14417/3725
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Abstract
This paper studies the impact of internet access on adolescent’s mental health. Exploiting the exogenous variation in the deployment of optic fiber in different areas of Spain between 2007 and 2019, we find that high-speed internet (HSI) increased mental health diagnoses among girls. Exploring the mechanisms behind this effect, we show that HSI increases addictive internet use while reducing time spent on sleep, homework, and socializing with family and friends, with girls driving all these effects. We also provide evidence that HSI contributes to a significant increase in suicide among adolescents, with the effects again being larger among girls.
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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IE Business School
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Arenas-Arroyo, E., Fernández-Kranz, D., & Nollenberger, N. (2022). High speed internet and the widening gender gap in adolescent mental health: Evidence from hospital records (No. 15728). IZA Discussion Papers.
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