The effect of conflict-related violence intensity and alcohol use on mental health: The case of Colombia

Andrea Salas-Ortiz; Rodrigo Moreno-Serra; Noemi Kreif; Marc Suhrcke; German Casas

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101626

The effect of conflict-related violence intensity and alcohol use on mental health: The case of Colombia

Andrea Salas-Ortiz, Rodrigo Moreno-Serra, Noemi Kreif, Marc Suhrcke, German Casas

Health & Health Systems

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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
Journal	SSM - Population Health
Volume	25
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101626
Publication status	Published - Mar 2024

Keywords

Alcohol consumption
Colombia
Conflict violence
Difference-in-Differences
IV
Mediation analysis
Mental health

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10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101626

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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.",

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AU - Suhrcke, Marc

AU - Casas, German

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AB - 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.

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KW - IV

KW - Mediation analysis

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The effect of conflict-related violence intensity and alcohol use on mental health: The case of Colombia

Abstract

Keywords

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