College education features prominently in research on determinants of deaths from substance use disorders and self-harm—outcomes collectively referred to as “deaths of despair” (DoD). Limited attention has been given to whether the protective effects of college education on indicators of despair vary by individuals’ likelihood of college completion. We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health for 6,145 individuals to test whether the protective effects of college completion on precursors to DoD vary according to individuals’ propensity to attain a college degree. Understanding whether the benefits of college education differ depending on the propensity to complete it is important for designing effective educational policies. Using the heterogeneous treatment effects approach, we find that individuals with a relatively low propensity for graduating from college but who complete it have a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms, binge drinking, prescription drug abuse, and hard drug use.

中文翻译：

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大学教育对绝望死亡相关结果的异质性影响


大学教育在关于物质使用障碍和自残死亡决定因素的研究中占据突出地位——结果统称为“绝望死亡”（DoD）。关于大学教育对绝望指标的保护作用是否因个人完成大学的可能性而异，人们关注有限。我们使用来自 6,145 人全国青少年到成人健康纵向研究的数据来测试大学完成对 DoD 前体的保护作用是否根据个人获得大学学位的倾向而变化。了解大学教育的好处是否因完成它的倾向而异，这对于设计有效的教育政策很重要。使用异质性治疗效果方法，我们发现大学毕业倾向相对较低但完成大学毕业的个体出现抑郁症状、酗酒、处方药滥用和硬性药物使用的可能性较低。