Abstract
We investigated the causal impact of conflict-related violence on individual mental health and its potential pathways in Colombia. Using data from before and after the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), we adopted a difference-in-differences empirical design combined with instrumental variables estimation. We also used formal mediation analysis to investigate a possible mediating role of alcohol consumption in the relationship between conflict exposure and mental health. Our results did not support the hypothesis that changes in exposure to conflict violence after the peace accord causally led to any changes in individual mental health. We were unable to identify a statistically significant mediating effect of alcohol consumption in the relationship between exposure to conflict violence and mental health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101626 |
| Pages (from-to) | 101626 |
| Journal | SSM - Population Health |
| Volume | 25 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), DFID, and The Wellcome Trust, through the Joint Health Systems Research Initiative (Grant Number MR/ R013667/1 ). The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, or writing.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
Keywords
- Alcohol consumption
- Colombia
- Conflict violence
- Difference-in-Differences
- IV
- Mediation analysis
- Mental health