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Effects of student human rights ordinances on mental health among middle and high school students in South Korea: a difference-in-differences analysis
Sang Jun Eun
Epidemiol Health. 2025;47:e2025011.   Published online March 1, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2025011
  • 11,441 View
  • 178 Download
AbstractAbstract AbstractSummary PDFSupplementary Material
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
To actively protect and enhance students’ human rights, student human rights ordinances (SHROs) have been enforced in seven provinces in South Korea at different times since 2010. Although human rights are closely linked to mental health, there has been no research on the effectiveness of human rights legislation on adolescent mental health. This study evaluated the effects of SHROs on the mental health of middle and high school students.
METHODS
Repeated cross-sectional data were used, including 1,148,257 respondents from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey between 2006 and 2023. Probabilities of perceived stress, sleep insufficiency, depressive mood, suicide ideation, and suicide attempt in treated provinces were estimated through a difference-in-differences approach that accounts for treatment effect heterogeneity across groups over time.
RESULTS
SHROs had no consistently significant effects on any mental health outcomes, except for slightly increased suicide ideation in total students (0.7%, 95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.1%). Suicide attempts in total and male students and perceived stress and sleep insufficiency in female students tended to decrease, while other mental health outcomes tended to increase. Uncertainty in the effect estimates of SHROs increased for all mental health outcomes with possible violations of parallel trends, rendering originally significant effects insignificant.
CONCLUSIONS
SHROs failed to improve mental health of middle and high school students in treated provinces, possibly due to the absence of enforcement mechanisms. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of and effect mechanisms for legal measures to improve human rights on adolescent mental health.
Summary
Korean summary
학생의 인권을 포괄적으로 보장하기 위해 학생인권조례가 시행되었지만 학생인권조례 시행 지역에서 중고등학생의 정신건강은 향상되지 않았는데, 이는 조례에 벌칙 조항 같은 강제성 기전이 없었기 때문이었을 수 있다. 학생인권조례는 중고등학생의 정신건강에 대해 효과가 없었지만 이 연구는 인권 법제의 청소년 정신건강에 대한 효과를 처음으로 평가했다. 인권증진을 위한 법적 수단의 청소년 정신건강에 대한 효과성과 효과 기전에 관하여 추가 연구가 필요하다.
Key Message
Although student human rights ordinances have been enforced in South Korea to comprehensively guarantee human rights for students, they failed to improve the mental health of middle and high school students in treated provinces, possibly due to the absence of enforcement mechanisms such as penalty provisions. Despite the ineffectiveness of student human rights ordinances, this study first estimated the effects of human rights legislation on adolescent mental health. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of and effect mechanisms for legal measures to improve human rights on adolescent mental health.
Infectious disease-related laws: prevention and control measures
Mijeong Park
Epidemiol Health. 2017;39:e2017033.   Published online July 25, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2017033
  • 40,966 View
  • 313 Download
  • 20 Web of Science
  • 20 Crossref
AbstractAbstract AbstractSummary PDFSupplementary Material
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
This study examines recently revised Korean government legislation addressing global infectious disease control for public health emergency situations, with the aim of proposing more rational, effective and realistic interpretations and applications for improvement of law.
METHODS
The Korea reported its first laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus on May 20, 2015. Since the first indexed case, Korean public health authorities enforced many public health measures that were not authorized in the law; the scope of the current law was too limited to cover MERS. Korea has three levels of government: the central government, special self-governing provinces, and si/gun/gu. Unfortunately, the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act does not designate the specific roles of each level of government, and does not state how these governmental branches should be vertically integrated in a state of emergency.
RESULTS
When thinking about these policy questions, we should be especially concerned about introducing a new act that deals with all matters relevant to emerging infectious diseases. The aim would be to develop a structure that specifies the roles of each level of government, and facilitates the close collaboration among them, then enacting this in law for the prevention and response of infectious disease.
CONCLUSIONS
To address this problem, after analyzing the national healthcare infrastructure along with the characteristics of emerging infectious diseases, we propose the revision of the relevant law(s) in terms of governance aspects, emergency medical countermeasure aspects, and the human rights aspect.
Summary
Korean summary
본 연구의 목적은 2015년 메르스 발생 후, 감염병의 예방 및 관리에 관한 법률의 입법경과를 검토하여 감염병으로 인한 공중보건위기 대응과 관련된 법률의 보다 구체적인 개선방안을 제시하는 것이다. 중앙정부와 지자체의 협력을 위한 거버넌스, 응급상황에서의 긴급의약품 제공을 위한 절차, 격리 대상자의 인권보장과 관련된 부분의 충분한 법적 상당성을 갖추기 위해 국가 보건의료체계 하부구조 측면에서 문제점을 분석한 후 법률 개정방안을 제언하였다.

Citations

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