The association between higher education attendance and common mental health problems among young people in England: evidence from two population-based cohorts.
Journal
The Lancet. Public health
ISSN: 2468-2667
Titre abrégé: Lancet Public Health
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101699003
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
10 2023
10 2023
Historique:
received:
01
03
2023
revised:
09
08
2023
accepted:
15
08
2023
medline:
23
10
2023
pubmed:
1
10
2023
entrez:
30
9
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
It is unclear whether young people who attend higher education are at increased risk of common mental disorders, compared with those who do not attend. We aimed to investigate whether higher education attendance was associated with increased symptoms of common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) in young people before, during and after attendance. For this cohort study, we used two cohorts-the Longitudinal Studies of Young People in England (LSYPE1: N=4832, 55·8% [2696 of 4832] students; LSYPE2: n=6128, 50·7% [3104 of 6128] students), beginning in 2004 for LSYPE1 and 2013 for LSYPE2. Both cohorts were designed to be nationally representative, with schools in England as the primary sampling unit. Symptoms of common mental disorders were assessed with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) before (age 14-17 years for both cohorts), during (age 18-19 years for LSYPE2), and after (age 25 years for LSYPE1) higher education. We assessed differences in GHQ scores using unadjusted and confounder adjusted linear regression. At ages 18-19 years (LSYPE2), mean GHQ-12 scores were 12·0 (SD 6·4) among students and 11·6 (SD 6·8) among non-students (adjusted mean difference 0·36, 95% CI 0·05 to 0·68; p=0·024). In LSYPE1, young people who attended higher education at ages 18-20 years had higher symptoms of common mental disorders at ages 16-17 years than those who did not (0·60, 0·30 to 0·90). However, after higher education (age 25 years for LSYPE1), there was no evidence of a difference-mean GHQ-12 scores were 11·4 (SD 5·5) among those who had attended and 11·7 (SD 6·4) among those who had not attended (-0·25, -0·66 to 0·16; p=0·23). We found evidence that students had more symptoms of common mental disorders than non-students at ages 18-19 years, albeit the effect size was small and there was no evidence of a longer-term difference at the age of 25 years. Department for Education.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
It is unclear whether young people who attend higher education are at increased risk of common mental disorders, compared with those who do not attend. We aimed to investigate whether higher education attendance was associated with increased symptoms of common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) in young people before, during and after attendance.
METHODS
For this cohort study, we used two cohorts-the Longitudinal Studies of Young People in England (LSYPE1: N=4832, 55·8% [2696 of 4832] students; LSYPE2: n=6128, 50·7% [3104 of 6128] students), beginning in 2004 for LSYPE1 and 2013 for LSYPE2. Both cohorts were designed to be nationally representative, with schools in England as the primary sampling unit. Symptoms of common mental disorders were assessed with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) before (age 14-17 years for both cohorts), during (age 18-19 years for LSYPE2), and after (age 25 years for LSYPE1) higher education. We assessed differences in GHQ scores using unadjusted and confounder adjusted linear regression.
FINDINGS
At ages 18-19 years (LSYPE2), mean GHQ-12 scores were 12·0 (SD 6·4) among students and 11·6 (SD 6·8) among non-students (adjusted mean difference 0·36, 95% CI 0·05 to 0·68; p=0·024). In LSYPE1, young people who attended higher education at ages 18-20 years had higher symptoms of common mental disorders at ages 16-17 years than those who did not (0·60, 0·30 to 0·90). However, after higher education (age 25 years for LSYPE1), there was no evidence of a difference-mean GHQ-12 scores were 11·4 (SD 5·5) among those who had attended and 11·7 (SD 6·4) among those who had not attended (-0·25, -0·66 to 0·16; p=0·23).
INTERPRETATION
We found evidence that students had more symptoms of common mental disorders than non-students at ages 18-19 years, albeit the effect size was small and there was no evidence of a longer-term difference at the age of 25 years.
FUNDING
Department for Education.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37777290
pii: S2468-2667(23)00188-3
doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00188-3
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e811-e819Subventions
Organisme : Medical Research Council
Pays : United Kingdom
Organisme : Wellcome Trust
ID : 223248/Z/21/Z
Pays : United Kingdom
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests.