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President Trump Stress Disorder: Partisanship, Ethnicity, and Expressive Reporting of Mental Distress After the 2016 Election

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Listed:
  • Masha Krupenkin
  • David Rothschild
  • Shawndra Hill
  • Elad Yom-Tov

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, many Democrats reported significant increases in stress, depression, and anxiety. Were these increases real, or the product of expressive reporting? Using a unique data set of searches by more than 1 million Bing users before and after the election, we examine the changes in mental-health-related searches among Democrats and Republicans. We then compare these changes to shifts in searches among Spanish-speaking Latinos in the United States. We find that while Democrats may report greater increases in post-election mental distress, their mental health search behavior did not change after the election. On the other hand, Spanish-speaking Latinos had clear, significant, and sustained increases in searches for “depression,†“anxiety,†“therapy,†and antidepressant medications. This suggests that for many Democrats, expressing mental distress after the election was a form of partisan cheerleading.

Suggested Citation

  • Masha Krupenkin & David Rothschild & Shawndra Hill & Elad Yom-Tov, 2019. "President Trump Stress Disorder: Partisanship, Ethnicity, and Expressive Reporting of Mental Distress After the 2016 Election," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:2158244019830865
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244019830865
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mukhopadhyay, Sankar, 2022. "Elections have (health) consequences: Depression, anxiety, and the 2020 presidential election," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Morey, Brittany N. & García, San Juanita & Nieri, Tanya & Bruckner, Tim A. & Link, Bruce G., 2021. "Symbolic disempowerment and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election: Mental health responses among Latinx and white populations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    3. Teresa Perry, 2023. "Did the 2016 election cause changes in substance use? An intersectional approach," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 1020-1069, November.
    4. Niederdeppe, Jeff & Avery, Rosemary J. & Liu, Jiawei & Gollust, Sarah E. & Baum, Laura & Barry, Colleen L. & Welch, Brendan & Tabor, Emmett & Lee, Nathaniel W. & Fowler, Erika Franklin, 2021. "Exposure to televised political campaign advertisements aired in the United States 2015–2016 election cycle and psychological distress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

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