IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v362y2024ics0277953624008712.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Childhood mental health and educational attainment: Within-family associations in a late 20th Century U.S. birth cohort

Author

Listed:
  • Klugman, Joshua
  • Schnittker, Jason
  • Vazquez, Victoria

Abstract

Mental health problems during childhood are associated with lowered educational attainment in adulthood. However, it is not clear if these associations hold when controlling for unobserved features of the family environment and if they depend on the socioeconomic status (SES) of parents. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Child Development and Transition into Adulthood Supplements (CDS; TAS) to examine these questions. Using linear and logistic regression, we isolate within-family variability in mental health problems among full sibling pairs (n = 958 individuals in 479 pairs). Associations depend on the measure used. Parental reports of problem behaviors and diagnosed problems have the most consistent negative associations with educational attainment (for example, a hyperactivity diagnosis is associated with 0.74 fewer years of schooling). Retrospective self-reports of diagnoses other than depression or anxiety also have a negative association (0.96 fewer years of schooling). But self-reports of depressive symptoms and emotional or psychological well-being during late childhood and adolescence have no significant associations with educational attainment. In addition, there is no significant moderation of these associations by SES.

Suggested Citation

  • Klugman, Joshua & Schnittker, Jason & Vazquez, Victoria, 2024. "Childhood mental health and educational attainment: Within-family associations in a late 20th Century U.S. birth cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:362:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624008712
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117417
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624008712
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117417?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mendelson, Tamar & Kubzansky, Laura D. & Datta, Geetanjali D. & Buka, Stephen L., 2008. "Relation of female gender and low socioeconomic status to internalizing symptoms among adolescents: A case of double jeopardy?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 1284-1296, March.
    2. Currie, Janet & Stabile, Mark, 2006. "Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1094-1118, November.
    3. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2007. "Mental Health in Childhood and Human Capital," NBER Chapters, in: The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective, pages 115-148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. McLaughlin, K.A. & Costello, E.J. & Leblanc, W. & Sampson, N.A. & Kessler, R.C., 2012. "Socioeconomic status and adolescent mental disorders," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(9), pages 1742-1750.
    5. Reiss, Franziska, 2013. "Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 24-31.
    6. Genevieve Gariepy & Frank J Elgar & Mariane Sentenac & Christopher Barrington-Leigh, 2017. "Early-life family income and subjective well-being in adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-11, July.
    7. Fletcher, Jason & Wolfe, Barbara, 2008. "Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD revisited," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 794-800, May.
    8. McLaughlin, Katie A. & Breslau, Joshua & Green, Jennifer Greif & Lakoma, Matthew D. & Sampson, Nancy A. & Zaslavsky, Alan M. & Kessler, Ronald C., 2011. "Childhood socio-economic status and the onset, persistence, and severity of DSM-IV mental disorders in a US national sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 1088-1096.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dinand Webbink & Sunčica Vujić & Pierre Koning & Nicholas G. Martin, 2012. "The Effect Of Childhood Conduct Disorder On Human Capital," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(8), pages 928-945, August.
    2. Rasheda Khanam & Son Nghiem & Maisha Rahman, 2020. "The income gradient and child mental health in Australia: does it vary by assessors?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(1), pages 19-36, February.
    3. Donal O’Neill & Sinéad McGilloway & Michael Donnelly & Tracey Bywater & Paul Kelly, 2013. "A cost-effectiveness analysis of the Incredible Years parenting programme in reducing childhood health inequalities," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(1), pages 85-94, February.
    4. Sarah E. Johnson & David Lawrence & Francisco Perales & Janeen Baxter & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2019. "Poverty, Parental Mental Health and Child/Adolescent Mental Disorders: Findings from a National Australian Survey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(3), pages 963-988, June.
    5. Arlette Simo-Fotso, 2016. "Human Capital Accumulation of Disabled Children:Does Disability Really Matter?," Working Papers 222, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED).
    6. Dinand Webbink & Nicholas Martin & Peter Visscher, 2011. "Does teenage childbearing reduce investment in human capital?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 701-730, April.
    7. Jeffrey S. DeSimone, 2010. "Sadness, Suicidality and Grades," NBER Working Papers 16239, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Dinand Webbink & Pierre Koning & Sunčica Vujić & Nicholas G. Martin, 2013. "Why Are Criminals Less Educated than Non-Criminals? Evidence from a Cohort of Young Australian Twins," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 115-144, February.
    9. Schreier, Alayna & Stenersen, Madeline R. & Strambler, Michael J. & Marshall, Tim & Bracey, Jeana & Kaufman, Joy S., 2023. "Needs of caregivers of youth enrolled in a statewide system of care: A latent class analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Jason M. Fletcher, 2014. "The Effects Of Childhood Adhd On Adult Labor Market Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 159-181, February.
    11. Reiss, Franziska, 2013. "Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 24-31.
    12. Anette Primdal Kvist & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Marianne Simonsen, 2011. "The effects of Children’s ADHD on Parents’ Relationship Dissolution and Labor Supply," Economics Working Papers 2011-14, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    13. Alexander Ahammer & Ulrich Glogowsky & Martin Halla & Timo Hener, 2023. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," CESifo Working Paper Series 10676, CESifo.
    14. Kelly Bedard & Allison Witman, 2020. "Family structure and the gender gap in ADHD," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1101-1129, December.
    15. David Johnston & Carol Propper & Stephen Pudney & Michael Shields, 2014. "Child Mental Health And Educational Attainment: Multiple Observers And The Measurement Error Problem," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 880-900, September.
    16. Thompson, Laura K. & Sugg, Margaret M. & Runkle, Jennifer R., 2018. "Adolescents in crisis: A geographic exploration of help-seeking behavior using data from Crisis Text Line," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 69-79.
    17. Eisenberg Daniel & Golberstein Ezra & Hunt Justin B, 2009. "Mental Health and Academic Success in College," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, September.
    18. Fletcher, Jason M. & Lehrer, Steven F., 2009. "The Effect of Adolescent Health on Educational Outcomes: Causal Evidence using ‘Genetic Lotteries’ between Siblings," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-40, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 26 Jun 2009.
    19. Karin A A De Ridder & Kristine Pape & Roar Johnsen & Turid Lingaas Holmen & Steinar Westin & Johan Håkon Bjørngaard, 2013. "Adolescent Health and High School Dropout: A Prospective Cohort Study of 9000 Norwegian Adolescents (The Young-HUNT)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-7, September.
    20. Johnston, David W. & Schurer, Stefanie & Shields, Michael A., 2011. "Evidence on the Long Shadow of Poor Mental Health across Three Generations," IZA Discussion Papers 6014, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:362:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624008712. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.