Date of Award
8-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Economics
Committee Chair/Advisor
Devon Gorry
Committee Member
Scott Templeton
Committee Member
Babur de los Santos
Abstract
This analysis evaluates the impact of California’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), which was implemented in 2006 to increase access and improve quality of mental health care for Californians. Difference-in-differences analyses were applied to evaluate the impact of the MHSA on the number of poor mental health days in the past month (PMHDs) that survey respondents had self-reported, relative to a control group with similar pre-policy trends. Using survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), this study found that the MHSA’s full implementation is associated with California respondents reporting 0.118 fewer poor mental health days in the past month, on average, than respondents from the control group. An additional difference-in-differences model uses a binary indicator as the dependent variable – marking respondents with a 1 if they reported 7 or more PMHDs, and a 0 if they reported less than 7 PMHDs. This additional model finds that the MHSA’s full implementation is associated with a 1.2 percentage point lower probability of the average California respondent reporting 7 or more poor mental health days in the last month, on average, than similar respondents from the control group. These results suggest that the MHSA’s implementation is associated with improvements in day-to-day mental health for both the general population and those with established mental health struggles. Further research could clarify potential confounding effects regarding those with established poor mental health.
Recommended Citation
Rider, Bennett, "Did California's Mental Health Services Act Improve Mental Health? Evidence from Self-Reported Data" (2025). All Theses. 4574.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4574
Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0002-9255-642X