The Effects of College Education on Depressive Symptoms: An Instrument Variable Approach

The acquisition of a college education is typically indicative of a resource advantage. However, in recent years, college graduates have faced increasing mental health related issues. The health advantages derived from this resource advantage have become increasingly less pronounced. This study aims to examine the effects of college education on depressive symptoms.

We used data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), and combined this dataset with Chinese Education Examination Yearbook. We took advantage of variations in educational attainment, which was generated by college expansion policy, and adopted instrumental variables (IV) approach to identify the causal relationship.

Our findings indicated that college education did not have a causal effect on promoting mental health. The results were supported by the fact that they held within each subgroup. Notably, our limited evidence suggested that college expansion policy promoted equity in educational access.

This study provided new and valuable evidence of education-induced health inequalities from the top of the education distribution.