Long-run Mental Health Impact of the Korean War

Abstract

In this study, we investigate whether exposure to a major civil war has a long-run impact on the mental health of individuals who experienced the war in late childhood. We use difference-in-differences strategy and exploit geographic variations in the intensity of the Korean War using Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. War exposure in late childhood to early teenage years has a long-run negative impact on variables related to mental health, including depression, fear, insomnia, and loneliness. The effect is exacerbated by poverty and household structure for two outcome variables: fear and loneliness.