How do mental and physical health problems contribute to inequalities in persistent school absence? A causal mediation analysis using ECHILD

大约四分之一的年轻人因长期缺课而大量缺课(10%或更多)。虽然据推测，在大流行之后，入学率将会恢复，但很大比例的年轻人仍然没有始终如一地上学。据报道，年轻人缺课的主要原因是健康问题，包括焦虑等心理健康症状。然而，我们不知道产妇健康、社会服务接触以及个人心理和身体健康如何导致持续缺课和受教育程度的不平等。与有特权的同龄人相比，处于不利地位的年轻人在评估中表现更差，缺课时间更多。儿童和青春期的不良健康状况有可能解释家庭社会经济环境(SECs)和不良教育结果之间的一些关系。健康状况不佳可能会通过消极症状、学习中断和缺课影响教育成就。此外，长期缺课可能会增加年轻人因与同龄人距离遥远、社交孤立和焦虑而出现心理健康困难的风险。此外，低Secs的父母更有可能心理和身体健康状况不佳。父母的心理健康不仅通过遗传特征对年轻人自身的心理健康产生重大影响，而且还通过父母的心理问题产生影响，这些问题可能导致负面的育儿行为、对儿童需求的缺乏关注、家庭功能障碍的增加和与社会服务的接触。背景：新冠肺炎的流行和当前的生活成本危机加剧了年轻人面临的公共卫生挑战。生活在绝对贫困中的年轻人的数量继续急剧增加，这一流行病的间接影响包括年轻人中精神健康问题发生率的阶段性增加，以及获得和接受关键预防和早期干预服务的机会减少。目的和研究问题：该奖学金的总体目标是评估产妇健康、家庭社会服务接触以及年轻人的心理和身体慢性疾病与英格兰青少年(11-18岁)持续缺课和受教育程度的社会不平等有关的相对重要性。使用ECHILD数据库；将新冠肺炎疫情爆发前后有关教育、社会护理和健康的数据联系起来，我将研究以下问题：在多次缺课、学业不良或被学校开除的年轻人中，有多大比例的人存在潜在的慢性心理或身体健康问题？家庭劣势与教育结果之间的关联在多大程度上可归因于家庭风险因素或年轻人潜在的慢性心理或身体健康状况？自疫情爆发以来，健康对教育不平等的影响发生了变化吗？健康和教育不平等之间的关系是否因学校而异。地方当局或地区？该奖学金还将用于界定ECHILD数据的范围，以回答未来的研究问题，即青春期经常缺勤或教育程度低是否预示着健康进入成年早期。应用和好处：我将解决健康和教育/社会护理需求之间相互作用中的重要差距，包括自大流行以来经历的复合劣势。关于调查结果的数字联合制作材料将使家庭和年轻人、从业者和教师能够更好地管理健康和教育之间的关系。

Around one in four young people are missing a large amount of education through persistent absence from school (10% or more missed). While it was presumed that school attendance levels would recover following the pandemic, a large proportion of young people still not consistently attend school. It is reported that young people are predominantly absent from school due to health concerns, including mental health symptoms such as anxiety. Yet, we do not know how maternal health, social service contacts, and individual mental and physical health contribute to inequalities in persistent school absence and educational attainment.Disadvantaged young people more often perform poorly in assessments and spend more time absent from education compared to privileged peers. Poor health during childhood and adolescence has the potential to explain some of the relationship between family socioeconomic circumstances (SECs) and poor educational outcomes. Poor health is likely to impact educational attainment through negative symptoms, disruption of learning, and school absence. Furthermore, long-term school absence is likely to contribute to young people's risk of mental health difficulties through distance from peers, social isolation, and anxiety.In addition, parents with low SECs are more likely to have poor mental and physical health. Parental mental health has a substantial impact on young people's own mental health, not only through inherited characteristics but also through parents' psychological problems that may lead to negative parenting behaviours, lack of attention to children's needs, increased dysfunction at home and social service contact.The context:Public health challenges for young people have been exacerbated by both the Covid-19 pandemic and the current cost of living crisis. The number of young people living in absolute poverty continues to rise dramatically, and the indirect impacts of the pandemic include a step-change increase in rates of mental health problems among young people, as well as reduced access to, and uptake of, key preventive and early intervention services.Aims and research questions:The overall aim of this fellowship is to assess the relative importance of maternal health, family social service contacts, and young peoples' mental and physical chronic conditions associated with social inequalities in adolescent (aged 11-18 years) persistent school absence and educational attainment in England. Using the ECHILD database; linked data on education, social care, and health before and after the covid-19 pandemic, I will examine the following questions:What proportion of young people experiencing repeated absence, poor attainment, or school exclusion have underlying chronic mental or physical health conditions?How much of the association between family disadvantage and educational outcomes is attributable to family risk factors or underlying chronic mental or physical health conditions in young people?Has the impact of health on educational inequalities changed since the pandemic?Does the relationship between health and educational inequalities vary by school, Local Authority or region?The fellowship will also be used to scope the ability of the ECHILD data to answer future research questions on whether frequent absences or poor educational attainment during adolescence predict health into early adulthood.Applications and benefits:I will address important gaps in the interplay between health and education/social care needs, including the compound disadvantage experienced since the pandemic. Digital co-produced materials on findings will inform and empower families and young people, practitioners, and teachers to better manage the relationship between health and education.