A Shelter for the Heart: The Impact of Teacher Quality on Students' Mental Health

Adolescent mental health has become a growing public health concern. This study examines the impact of teacher quality, proxied by teacher experience, on student mental health. To address potential endogeneity concerns and identify causal effects, we exploit data from a sample of schools where students and teachers are plausibly randomly assigned to classes. Our results indicate that students assigned to head teachers with greater experience exhibit significantly improved mental health. By contrast, we find no such effects for subject teachers who are solely responsible for academic instruction. The mechanism analysis suggests that more experienced head teachers strengthen teacher–student relationships, engage more with parents, report higher work satisfaction, and promote more supportive peer interactions. Our results highlight the important role of school environments in determining adolescents' mental health and offer actionable insights for interventions.