Mental health cost of terrorism: Study of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

Abstract

This study examines whether a terrorist attack in a developed country, which does not cause major damage to its capital stocks, affects the mental health of its residents. By exploiting variations in survey dates of the European Social Survey, we use a difference-in-differences strategy to show that the attack adversely affects subjective well-being and mental health measures of French respondents. These negative effects are stronger for immigrants and low-income individuals. The impact is less dramatic for politically extreme right-wing supporters. The distance from origin has little impact on these measures.