title: Mental-health and educational achievement: the link between poor mental-health and upper secondary school completion and grades.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Education profoundly affects adult socioeconomic status, so it is important to ensure that all children have the capability and opportunity to achieve educational goals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to examine the relationship between mental-health during adolescence and upper secondary school completion and grades, which has received comparatively little research attention to date.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal administrative and registered data were used to analyse the relationship between school achievement and prescriptions of psycholeptic and psycho-analeptic drugs. The sample consisted of all children born in Sweden in 1990 (n = 109 223), who were followed from birth to age 20. Logistic and OLS regressions were performed separately for boys and girls, controlling for birth health and family characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A negative relationship between mental-health problems and educational outcomes was found; this result was almost independent of the controls. Only minor differences between the sexes were detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poor mental-health during childhood correlated negatively with educational attainment. Given the strong link between educational success and adult life, more resources are needed to support children with mental-health problems.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden and.
authors.forename: Annica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brännlund
authors.affiliation: b Department of Social Work , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strandh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden and.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000193:education*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D013334:Students
keywords: Mental-health; Sweden; completion; education; grades; school; secondary; upper