Mental health difficulties and academic attainment: Evidence for gender-specific developmental cascades in middle childhood

Abstract

We present a developmental cascade model of the longitudinal relationships between internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, and academic performance in middle childhood, utilizing a large sample (N = 1,771) from the United Kingdom in a 3-year, cross-lag design. Three hypotheses were tested: adjustment erosion, academic incompetence, and (cumulative) shared risk. In addition, we sought to examine whether developmental cascade pathways varied across gender, while also statistically exploring indirect, mediation pathways. Structural equation models that accounted for within-time covariance, data nesting, and temporal stability provided evidence of gender-specific effects as follows: externalizing-attainment adjustment erosion pathways were found only in boys, while attainment-internalizing/externalizing academic incompetence pathways were found only in girls. Analysis of mediation pathways provided further support for these gender-specific longitudinal profiles. Protective longitudinal internalizing-externalizing and externalizing-internalizing pathways were found for both boys and girls. Finally, while it improved model fit for both genders, the influence of cumulative shared risk on the aforementioned pathways was relatively meager, substantively affecting only one (externalizing-attainment adjustment erosion pathway in boys). The implications of these findings are discussed, and study limitations noted.

Longitudinal pathways between mental health difficulties and academic performance during middle childhood and early adolescence

“…We drew on a large, nationally representative data set that afforded important analytical advancements relative to much prior developmental cascade research (e.g., the estimation of latent variables, while also accounting for nesting in the data), thereby enhancing analytical rigour, while focusing separately on middle childhood and adolescence and examining potential differences between boys and girls. In contrast with Panayiotou and Humphrey (), multigroup analysis did not find evidence for gender differences for either age group.…”

“…Specifically, for primary school children, academic attainment was inversely related to later internalizing symptoms, even after accounting for shared‐risk variables; however, the same pathway was not present for adolescents. This finding is consistent with previous evidence of the effect of low academic competence on later internalizing symptoms specifically in middle childhood (Moilanen et al ., ; Panayiotou & Humphrey, ), which has highlighted the potential deleterious effects of academic failure on mental health (McCarty et al ., ). Explanations for the effect being observed for this specific age group include the potential impact of parent and teacher feedback around poor attainment on mood and self‐concept, especially leading up to transition from primary to secondary school settings (Moilanen et al ., ).…”

“…To date, there has only been one UK‐based study of the developmental cascades between internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, and academic attainment. Panayiotou and Humphrey () found support for both the adjustment‐erosion and academic‐incompetence hypotheses, but the pathways observed were gender specific (the former only evident for boys, the latter only for girls). They also found that the influence of shared risk was meagre, improving model fit but substantively affecting only one previously established pathway.…”

Training teachers in classroom management to improve mental health in primary school children: the STARS cluster RCT

“…Given the relationship between emotional health and educational attainment, [15][16][17][18] tests of interaction were also carried out to assess whether or not the effect of the intervention on the assessment of pupil progress (APP) outcomes is modified by whether or not the child scored in the struggling range on the teacher-reported SDQ-TD score at baseline.…”

“…14 Promoting resilience at an early stage in life could lead to a population-level reduction in the burden and cost associated with mental ill health. In addition, poor mental health is highly associated with lower levels of academic attainment, [15][16][17] and recent work has demonstrated that improving a child's mental health will lead to subsequent improvements in their levels of attainment. 18 Therefore, an effective intervention that can be applied and delivered in an ordinary school setting, with no cost other than to train the teachers delivering it, would incur minimal costs for a wide-reaching population health benefit.…”