Editor's note: The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Today's article is by Amy Rapaport and Morgan Polikoff of the University of Southern California.
(THE CONVERSATION) — Parents report that their children's mental health is worse than it was a decade ago, but different groups of kids suffer from mental health issues in markedly different ways.
This is what our team at the University of Southern California's Center for Applied Research in Education found, using a widely used mental health screening measure. More specifically, we found that the lowest-scoring subgroup, preteen boys, struggled more in areas involving externalizing behaviors such as hyperactivity, inattention, and conduct problems. The second-lowest-scoring subgroup, teen girls, struggled most notably with more internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression.
These findings confirm an upward trend in student mental health concerns that began before the pandemic but has likely been exacerbated by school closures, social isolation and other child and family stressors caused by COVID-19.
Moreover, we found that these mental health screener scores (which we refer to here as “difficulty scores”) were associated in important ways with grades and attendance, meaning that students with low grades and low attendance were much more likely to have difficulty scores in the highest, most concerning ranges.
Among students who had good attendance at halfway through the school year, only about 1 in 14 had high difficulty scores. But among students who were chronically absent at halfway through the school year, nearly 1 in 4 had high difficulty scores.
Similarly, students who get several Cs in school are three to four times more likely to receive high difficulty scores compared to students who get all As and Bs (19% and 6%, respectively).
Because high scores on the Mental Health Screener are predictive of certain types of mental health diagnoses, such as anxiety, mood, and behavioral disorders, these results provide new insights into the complex relationship between mental health and school outcomes.
Why is this important?
Children's mental health is suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple data sources have revealed increases in teen suicides, emergency room visits, and anxiety and depression among school-age children. Children are also struggling academically, with chronic absenteeism at an all-time high.
Schools have an opportunity to address these trends by offering school-based mental health services. These services can include one-on-one counseling or therapy, case managers who can coordinate services for students who need help, and referrals to outside resources. In fact, our survey found that nearly three-quarters of parents of students who use school-provided services are satisfied with the services and find them helpful.
Yet many schools don't offer this support, or at least parents aren't aware of it. In our survey, 59% of higher-income respondents said mental health resources were available at their children's schools, compared to 37% of lower-income respondents. But low-income students are more likely to access this support when it's available: More than half of lowest-income respondents said their children would have accessed mental health services if they were available, compared to 11% of highest-income respondents.
Students have a significant unmet need for mental health support, with 20% of parents whose children attend schools without such supports saying they would use the support if it was offered. These results suggest there is an opportunity for schools to not only provide mental health services, but also invest in ensuring they reach the students who need them most.
What we don't know yet
Our research confirms an important link between children's mental health and school performance, but we don't yet know which causes the other. For example, some students may be missing more time from school due to anxiety or depression, while students who miss school due to illness or other reasons may develop anxiety over time as a result.
What's next?
For schools and families to address worsening children's mental health and academic achievement, researchers must seek to better understand the underlying causes of children's mental health concerns and increased absenteeism. Research is also needed that explores differences in the relationship between mental health and academic achievement among different student subgroups, such as income level and racial subgroups. This could inform how schools should respond to issues that threaten students' well-being.
Research Briefs are short articles about interesting academic research.
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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article at: https://theconversation.com/students-with-mental-health-struggles-linked-to-absenteeism-and-lower-grades-showing-clear-need-for-more-in-school-support-235940
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