title: Depression and school performance in middle adolescent boys and girls.
abstract: The study aimed to investigate the associations between different levels of depression with different aspects of school performance. The target population included 2516 7th-9th grade pupils (13-17 years) of whom 90% completed the questionnaire anonymously in the classroom. Of the girls 18.4% and of the boys 11.1% were classified as being depressed (R-Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Finnish version of the 13-item BDI). The lower the self-reported grade point average (GPA) or the more the GPA had declined from the previous term, the more commonly the adolescents were depressed. Depression was associated with difficulties in concentration, social relationships, self-reliant school performance and reading and writing as well as perceiving schoolwork as highly loading. The school performance variables had similar associations with depression among both sexes when a wide range of depression was studied but gender differences appeared when studying the severe end of the depression scale. Our study indicates that pupils reporting difficulties in academic performance should be screened for depression.
authors.affiliation: Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Finland. sari.frojd@uta.fi
authors.forename: Sari A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Fröjd
authors.forename: Eeva S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Nissinen
authors.forename: Mirjami U I
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Pelkonen
authors.forename: Mauri J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Marttunen
authors.forename: Anna-Maija
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Koivisto
authors.forename: Riittakerttu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaltiala-Heino
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011932:Reading; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D014956:Writing