Socioemotional Development During Adolescence: Evidence from a Large Macro Shock

We exploit a large quasi-exogenous shock to study the development of socioemotional skills during early adolescence and their links to long-term behavior and labor market outlook. Using novel, longitudinal, microdata on cohorts of East German adolescents before and after a large macro shock (the German Reunification), we causally estimate the impact on socioemotional skills (self-confidence and impulse control), finding negative effects in the short run. These effects are substantially larger among those affected by the shock in early adolescence (13-14 years old), relative to later adolescence (16-17 years old). Changes in socioemotional skills have a lasting (negative) impact on them as adults, especially among those affected early in their adolescence, in terms of externalizing behavior (e.g., physical fighting), behavioral control problems (i.e., substance abuse), internalizing behavior (i.e., mental health) and in their (labor-market) optimism and expectations. This study highlights the permanent effects of uncertainty on socioemotional skills during formative years.