March 18, 2026
Contact: Eric Stann, StannE@missouri.edu
A new University of Missouri study suggests mental health policies can play a significant role in how Americans choose political candidates.
Past scholarly research has found that most Americans say they support mental health policies. Jake Haselswerdt, an associate professor of political science in Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science, wanted to take the topic a step further by asking whether mental health policies actually matter when people choose to vote for a political candidate.
Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults from the 2024 Cooperative Election Study, Haselswerdt asked participants to choose between competing priorities. The results showed that even small differences could sway voters, and mental health was often the issue that tipped the scale in a candidate’s favor.
The results indicate mental health issues influence political decision making in substantive ways, Haselswerdt said.
“I assumed mental health would rank below topics that typically dominate public discussion, like border security,” he said. “But that’s not what I found. I found that people consider this to be as important as other issues that get a lot more news coverage.”
Mizzou’s study comes during a time when concerns about Americans’ mental well-being remain elevated across the country. Recent polling from the National Alliance on Mental Illness shows one in six adults reporting poor mental health, largely influenced by the cost of living, personal health concerns and the demands of daily life.
Haselswerdt said the findings point to a significant and often under-recognized opportunity for policymakers to take stronger action on mental health policies.
“If there’s one takeaway, it’s that political leaders should pay more attention to addressing the deepening mental health crisis in America,” he said.
The study, “Who cares about mental health? Benchmarking the issue importance of mental health for American voters” was published in PLOS One.
