The relationship between mental health and public attention to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and confirmation

Abstract

Rationale: Researchers have rarely considered how public attention surrounding political events influences mental health. Specifically, in a politically polarized nation like the United States, it is possible that these events have a public mental health effect.

Objective: This study examines the mental health effects associated with the 2018 U.S. Senate hearing and confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh using public survey data.

Methods: We use the interview date included in CDC data from the 2014-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to identify the effects of increased public attention on the Kavanaugh hearings and confirmation on the mental health of individuals who identify as female. We employ a triple difference model to control for possible confounding effects and target causality.

Results: We find meaningful increases in both the number of "not good" mental health days reported and the probability of reporting any "not good" mental health days. On average, females reported 0.24 more poor mental health days during the one-month period surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation and hearings than women did in the same 1-month period in 2014. This change represents a nearly 10% increase in mental health burden. The results are robust to the inclusion of a range of covariates as well as alternate specifications. In addition, we derive estimates of the societal costs associated with the increased mental health burden linked to Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the Kavanaugh confirmation and hearings were associated with a notable rise in mental health challenges, especially among women. These results extend beyond personal experience and illustrate the societal costs linked to the resulting increased mental health burden. Further research on similar events is warranted.

Keywords: Mental health; Political news; Population health; Sexual assault; Supreme court.