Schools have a small but important role in early adolescents’ mental health

Washington, DC, December 23, 2021 – A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports in adolescents 11-14 years old, that schools account for a small, but significant part of a young person’s mental health.

“As young people transition back-to-school, we must prioritize their mental health and consider what we can do to promote their well-being. Schools are potentially well placed to do this as young people spend much of their waking life at school; however, policy makers also need to look at any number of factors outside schools that are consistently associated with poor mental health—namely deprivation and social inequality,” said corresponding author Willem Kuyken, PhD, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, UK.

A sample of 26,885 students, between 11-14 years of age, across 85 schools were surveyed to establish young people’s mental health and which school and broader factors were important. Schools accounted for only 2.4% of the variation in social-emotional-behavioral difficulties; 1.6% of the variation in depressive symptoms; and 1.4% of the variation in well-being. Other factors like being in an urban location, greater levels of deprivation and being white British were all associated with poorer mental health. While schools explained only small amounts of variation in mental health, in support of additional research in the field, school climate was nonetheless associated with mental health.

The findings, from data obtained in the My Resilience in Adolescence (MYRIAD) study, explore what supports young people’s mental health and evaluates the cost-effectiveness of a mindfulness training intervention delivered to an entire school. This study uses the data from this mindfulness trial to explore school-level influences on the mental health of young people.

“Despite the direct influence of schools on mental health being small in our study, this does not mean schools should stop themselves short of doing something really valuable to improve a young person’s mental health,” said Tamsin Ford, PhD, Professor of Child Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK. “A positive school climate seems key and there are a range of whole school and targeted interventions that work. I would add that even small school-level effects may translate into more significant impacts if the substantial future health, economic, and societal costs of mental ill health are considered.”

---

Notes for editors
The article is “The Role of Schools in Early Adolescents’ Mental Health: Findings From the MYRIAD Study,” by Tamsin Ford, FRCPsych, PhD, Michelle Degli Esposti, DPhil, Catherine Crane, DPhil, Laura Taylor, DPhil, Jesus Montero-Marın, PhD, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, PhD, Lucy Bowes, PhD, Sarah Byford, PhD, Tim Dalgleish, PhD, Mark T. Greenberg, PhD, Elizabeth Nuthall, PGDip, Alice Phillips, MRes, Anam Raja, MSc, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, PhD, Russell M. Viner, PhD, J. Mark G. Williams, PhD, Matt Allwood, BSc, Louise Aukland, PGCE, Triona Casey, MSc, Katherine De  ilde, PGCE, Eleanor-Rose Farley, MSc, Nils Kappelmann, MSc, Liz Lord, MSc, Emma Medlicott, MSc, Lucy Palmer, PhD, Ariane Petit, MSc, Isobel Pryor-Nitsch, MSc, Lucy Radley, BSc, Lucy Warriner, BSc, Anna Sonley, MEd, the MYRIAD Team, Willem Kuyken, PhD (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2021.02.016).

It appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, volume 60, issue 12 (December 2021), published by Elsevier.

The study is published open access, click the DOI link above to access.

Copies of this paper are also available to credentialed journalists upon request; please contact the JAACAP Editorial Office at support@jaacap.org or +1 202 587 9674. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Willem Kuyken, PhD, e-mail at willem.kuyken@psych.ox.ac.uk  

About JAACAP
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the official publication of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. JAACAP is the leading journal focusing exclusively on today's psychiatric research and treatment of the child and adolescent. Published twelve times per year, each issue is committed to its mission of advancing the science of pediatric mental health and promoting the care of youth and their families.

The Journal's purpose is to advance research, clinical practice, and theory in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is interested in manuscripts from diverse viewpoints, including genetic, epidemiological, neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, social, cultural, and economic. Studies of diagnostic reliability and validity, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatment efficacy, and mental health services effectiveness are encouraged. The Journal also seeks to promote the well-being of children and families by publishing scholarly papers on such subjects as health policy, legislation, advocacy, culture and society, and service provision as they pertain to the mental health of children and families.

About Elsevier
As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems.

In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders.

Elsevier employs 8,100 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our 2,500+ digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our 40,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com

Media contact
JAACAP Editorial Office
+1 202 587 9674
support@jaacap.org