Monday 1 June 2015

Mental health and education decisions

an article by Francesca Cornaglia (Queen Mary, University of London and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics), Elena Crivellaro (Directorate for employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD, France) and Sandra McNally (Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and School of Economics, University of Surrey) published in Labour Economics Volume 33 (April 2015)

Abstract

Mental health problems have been rising internationally. The link between poor mental health and low educational outcomes is particularly interesting in the case of the UK which has a low international ranking both on measures of child well-being and the probability of early drop-out from the labour market and education.

We study this issue using a large longitudinal study of a recent cohort of teenagers in England.

We use the General Health Questionnaire to derive measures of poor mental health.

We find a large negative association between being at risk of poor mental health and educational outcomes – where we consider examination results before leaving compulsory education and the probability of being ‘not in education, employment or training’ at a young age.

Results are stronger for girls and also vary according to the different components of the mental health measure.

It is important for practitioners and policy makers to pay attention to symptoms of poor mental health.

Hazel’s comment:
Is poor mental health rising or is the reporting of poor mental health rising?


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