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School closures and parental mental health.
Dario Salcedo1, Sumedha Gupta2, Hailemichael Shone3
1Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States of America.
Journal of Health Economics
|July 8, 2026
Summary
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted parental mental healthcare needs. Reduced school access led to a smaller decline in antidepressant initiation for mothers and fathers, highlighting schools
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Economics
- Sociology
Background:
- Schools provide essential support beyond education, including childcare and social services.
- Disruptions to schooling can negatively impact family well-being and parental mental health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of school closures on parental initiation of antidepressant use.
- To quantify the effect of school access disruptions on mental healthcare needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Methods:
- Utilized national commercial claims data.
- Employed a difference-in-differences design exploiting geographic variation in physical school access.
- Analyzed parental antidepressant initiation rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Results:
- Antidepressant use declined overall during the pandemic.
- Zip codes with high school closures experienced a 3.8% smaller decline in antidepressant initiation for both mothers and fathers.
- These effects persisted even after in-person instruction resumed.
Conclusions:
- Schools play a crucial role in mitigating household stress and supporting parental mental health.
- Institutional disruptions, like school closures, significantly impact health outcomes.
- Findings contribute to understanding the economic and social determinants of health during crises.
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