Mental health and school dropout across educational levels and genders: a 4.8-year follow-up study

Abstract

BackgroundEducation is a key determinant of future employment and income prospects of young people. Poor mental health is common among young people and is related to risk of dropping out of school (dropout). Educational level and gender might play a role in the association, which remains to be studied.MethodsMental health was measured in 3146 Danish inhabitants aged 16–29 years using the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey and examined across genders and educational levels. For students, educational level at baseline was used; for young people who were not enrolled in school at baseline (non-students), the highest achieved educational level was used. The risk of dropout in students was investigated in administrative registers over a 4.8–year period (1st March 2010–31th December 2014). Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for mental health and in relation to dropout in logistic regression models, adjusting for age, gender, educational level, parental education, parental income and ethnicity.ResultsPoor mental health was present in 24 % (n = 753) of the participants, 29 % (n = 468) in females and 19 % (n = 285) in males (p < 0.0001). The prevalence differed from 19 to 39 % across educational levels (p < 0.0001). Females had a statistically significantly higher adjusted risk of poor mental health than males (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.5–2.2). Among the students the lowest risk was found at the elementary level (OR = 1.3, CI = 0.8–2.3), while students in higher education had a statistically significantly higher risk (OR = 1.9, CI = 1.2–2.9). The lowest-educated non-students had the highest OR of poor mental health (OR = 3.3, CI = 2.1–5.4). Dropout occurred in 8 % (n = 124) of the students. Poor mental health was associated to dropout in vocational (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.0–3.2) and higher education (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.0–4.2). For males in higher education, poor mental health was a predictor of dropout (OR = 5.2, CI = 1.6–17.3), which was not seen females in higher education (OR = 1.2, CI = 0.5–3.1).ConclusionsPoor mental health was significantly associated to dropout among students in vocational and higher education. Males in higher education had five times the risk of dropout when reporting poor mental health, while no such association was found for females.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3622-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Examination of Depressive Tendencies via Negative Automatic Thoughts in University Students

“…In literature economic level is informed as one of the factors which affects dropouts (Hjorth et al, 2016;RowanKenyon, 2007;Ruban, Petersen, & Møller-Madsen, 2013) which is supported with the findings of the presented study.…”

“…In literature first year of college was associated with high levels of stress since it is an adaptation period to new conditions (Chaló, Pereira, Batista, & Sancho, 2017;Dyson & Renk, 2006) and also associated with high rate of school dropouts (Hjorth et al, 2016), freshmen period seems as an especially important period. Therefore freshmen and seniors were included as participants of the current study.…”

“…Snowball sampling and quato sampling were used together to create a certain amount of equivalence in gender and class. Since first year of college was associated with high levels of stress (Chaló, Pereira, Batista, & Sancho, 2017;Dyson & Renk, 2006) and high rate of school dropouts (Hjorth et al, 2016), freshmen especially included to the research. In order to see the differences between new beginners and fourth grades, seniors were also included.…”

“…It was claimed that psychological problems like depression are prevalent among students and these problems are associated with school dropouts which deteriorates the future income prospects of the students who dropout their school (Hjorth et al, 2016).…”

Psychopathology and self-harm among incoming first-year students in six Mexican universities

“…Mental health problems such as suicide ideation, severe substance use, depression and anxiety have been associated to academic performance [5][6][7][8] and dropping out of higher education. 9 However, a few studies have found no such associations. 10,11 Thus, incoming first-year students with a prior untreated psychopathology, which may be exacerbated by new demands, may have a more difficult transition to university, affecting their academic achievement and ultimately their chances of graduation.…”