Resource information
The 1997 Indonesian financial crisis
resulted in severe economic dislocation and political
upheaval, and the detrimental consequences for economic
welfare, physical health, and child education have been
previously established in numerous studies. We also find the
crisis adversely impacted population psychological
well-being. We document substantial increases in several
different dimensions of psychological distress among male
and female adults across the entire age distribution over
the crisis period. In addition, the imprint of the crisis
can be seen in the differential impacts of the crisis on low
education groups, the rural landless, and residents in those
provinces that were hit hardest by the crisis. Elevated
levels of psychological distress persist even after
indicators of economic well-being such as household
consumption had returned to pre-crisis levels suggesting
long-term deleterious effects of the crisis on the
psychological well-being of the Indonesian population.
