Adolescent Mental Health: Impact of Introducing Earlier Compulsory School Grades

The prevalence of mental illness is increasing among adolescents in many developed countries, and factors such as increased academic pressure and earlier introduction of performance evaluation may in part explain this trend. We study the effect of introducing earlier grades in compulsory school on adolescent mental health in Sweden. To do so, we exploit a grading reform in Swedish schools in which grades were introduced in 6th grade instead of 8th grade. Controlling for potential age effects in a difference-in-discontinuities setup, we show that girls who are exposed to earlier grades are more likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety by the end of compulsory school. We do not find similar effects among boys. These results indicate that the mental well-being of girls may be particularly influenced by educational assessments such as grades during early years, which suggests that potential health effects of different grading systems should be considered.