Early-life Exposure to Famine Decreased Subjective Well-being and Mental Health in Adulthood

Using a difference-in-differences method with variations in birth cohorts and regional excess death rates, this study quantifies the effects of the 1959–1961 Chinese Great Famine, one of the severest public disasters in the world in the 20th century, on the subjective well-being (SWB) and mental health of the survivors half a century after the event. We adopt a rich set of evaluative SWB, emotional SWB, eudaimonic SWB, and depression measures as dependent variables. Using a nationally representative survey in China, we find that exposure to the Great Famine in the prenatal and early-childhood period brings significantly negative impacts on SWB and mental health. Supporting analysis suggests that physical health, social integration and socioeconomic statuses are three important mechanisms of the impact. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to quantify the SWB effects of famine. Our study highlights the important role of early-life circumstance in SWB and mental health as well as the long-term consequences of public disasters