The influence of mental health on educational attainment in adolescence

越来越多的证据表明，英国儿童和年轻人的心理健康状况普遍不佳，这一问题已成为一个关键的政策优先事项。最近的政府报告和政策方案特别强调了学校和大学作为普遍服务机构在支持儿童和青年人的心理健康以及改善对有特殊心理健康需要的学生的早期识别和干预方面的作用，虽然这些报告提出了投资于早期预防心理疾病的经济理由，这种经济论点强调了长期治疗成年后持续的精神健康状况不佳的费用，忽视了早期精神健康对决定生活机会的其他早期生活结果（如教育程度）的潜在影响。心理健康状况不佳可能会通过一些机制导致教育成果较差，包括通过缺课和辍学、通过行为和注意力困难以及通过降低抱负和学校联系。或者，心理健康和教育成果之间的关联可能不是直接和因果关系，但包括其他社会，生物和/或人口混杂因素的影响。现有证据表明，儿童和青少年早期心理健康状况不佳与晚年教育和就业结果较差有关。然而，需要一个强大的，纵向的，最新的和全国代表性的研究，以明确地确定是否存在因果关系。心理健康状况不佳和学业成绩较低之间存在因果关系的有力证据可能会对进一步鼓励教育政策制定者和学校投资心理健康产生巨大影响。这项研究将调查心理健康和幸福的影响，在整个青春期早期的教育程度在关键阶段4，使用纵向数据从青年小组了解社会，英国家庭小组研究（UKHLS），这已被链接到国家学生数据库。研究会探讨父母的特质、家庭学习环境、个人人口统计资料、在校表现及过往学业成就，在多大程度上影响学业成就与精神健康及福祉之间的关系。家庭社会经济和人口状况在多大程度上与整个青少年时期的教育成就有关？二.家庭学习环境在多大程度上与整个青少年时期的教育成就相关？三.心理健康和幸福感在多大程度上解释了教育成就？四.哪些因素介导了心理健康和教育程度之间的关联？这些关联在不同的社会经济和人口群体、地理区域或学校类型之间是否一致？

Growing evidence of the prevalence of poor mental health among children and young people in the UK has led to this issue becoming a key policy priority. Recent Government reports and policy programmes have particularly emphasised the role of schools and colleges, as universal services, in supporting children and young people's mental health and improving early identification of and intervention for pupils with particular mental health needs.While such reports have presented an economic case for investment in early prevention of mental ill health, emphasising the costs of long term treatment for persistent poor mental health in adult life, this economic argument neglects the impact that early life mental health potentially has on other early life outcomes fundamental in determining life chances, such as educational attainment. There are a number of mechanisms through which poor mental health could lead to poorer educational outcomes, including through school absence and dropout, through behavioural and attentional difficulties and through lowered aspirations and school connectedness. Alternatively, the association between mental health and educational outcomes might not be direct and causal, but incorporate the influence of other social, biological and/or demographic confounding factors. Existing evidence suggests that poor mental health in childhood and early adolescence is associated with poorer educational and employment outcomes in later life. However, a robust, longitudinal, up-to-date and nationally representative study is needed to unequivocally establish whether a causal relationships exists. Robust evidence of a causal relationship between poor mental health and lower academic attainment could be hugely influential in further encouraging education policymakers and schools to invest in mental health. This research will investigate the influence of mental health and well-being throughout early adolescence on educational attainment at Key Stage 4, using longitudinal data from the Youth Panel of Understanding Society, the UK Household Panel Study (UKHLS), which has been linked to the National Pupil Database. It will consider how far parental characteristics, the home learning environment, individual demographics, in-school behaviours and prior attainment mediate the association between attainment and mental health and well-being.The questions to be answered are as follows:i. To what extent are family socioeconomic and demographic circumstances associated with educational attainment throughout adolescence?ii. To what extent is the home learning environment associated with educational attainment throughout adolescence?iii. How far does psychological mental health and well-being explain educational attainment?iv. What factors mediate the association between mental health and educational attainment?v. Are these associations consistent across different socioeconomic and demographic groups, geographical areas, or school types?