The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes
Research suggests that prenatal exposure to environmental stressors has negative effects after birth. However, capturing causal effects is difficult because exposed women may be selected on unobserved factors. We use the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah war as a natural experiment and a siblings fixed-effects...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Society for Sociological Science
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Sociological Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v2-27-558/ |
| _version_ | 1819293344730185728 |
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| author | Florenia Torche Uri Shwed |
| author_facet | Florenia Torche Uri Shwed |
| author_sort | Florenia Torche |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research suggests that prenatal exposure to environmental stressors has negative effects after birth. However, capturing causal effects is difficult because exposed women may be selected on unobserved factors. We use the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah war as a natural experiment and a siblings fixed-effects methodology to address unobserved selectivity by comparing exposed and unexposed births of the same mother. Findings indicate that exposure to war in early and mid-pregnancy lowers birth weight and increases the probability of low birth weight. The effect is not driven by geographic sorting, migration, or increased miscarriages. Given that birth weight predicts health, developmental, and socioeconomic outcomes, prenatal exposure to acute stress may have long-term effects over the life course. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T04:08:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8520ac900e5492ea4fe57eff065818a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2330-6696 2330-6696 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T04:08:56Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Society for Sociological Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociological Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8520ac900e5492ea4fe57eff065818a2022-12-21T17:16:07ZengSociety for Sociological ScienceSociological Science2330-66962330-66962015-12-0122755858110.15195/v2.a273053The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth OutcomesFlorenia Torche0Uri Shwed1 New York University Ben Gurion University of Negev Research suggests that prenatal exposure to environmental stressors has negative effects after birth. However, capturing causal effects is difficult because exposed women may be selected on unobserved factors. We use the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah war as a natural experiment and a siblings fixed-effects methodology to address unobserved selectivity by comparing exposed and unexposed births of the same mother. Findings indicate that exposure to war in early and mid-pregnancy lowers birth weight and increases the probability of low birth weight. The effect is not driven by geographic sorting, migration, or increased miscarriages. Given that birth weight predicts health, developmental, and socioeconomic outcomes, prenatal exposure to acute stress may have long-term effects over the life course.https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v2-27-558/Birth WeightFetal OriginsNatural ExperimentalPrenatal Stress |
| spellingShingle | Florenia Torche Uri Shwed The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes Sociological Science Birth Weight Fetal Origins Natural Experimental Prenatal Stress |
| title | The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes |
| title_full | The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes |
| title_fullStr | The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes |
| title_short | The Hidden Costs of War: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Birth Outcomes |
| title_sort | hidden costs of war exposure to armed conflict and birth outcomes |
| topic | Birth Weight Fetal Origins Natural Experimental Prenatal Stress |
| url | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v2-27-558/ |
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