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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Dec;60(12):1467-1478.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2021.02.016. Epub 2021 Mar 4.

The Role of Schools in Early Adolescents' Mental Health: Findings From the MYRIAD Study

Tamsin Ford  1 , Michelle Degli Esposti  2 , Catherine Crane  2 , Laura Taylor  2 , Jesús Montero-Marín  2 , Sarah-Jayne Blakemore  3 , Lucy Bowes  2 , Sarah Byford  4 , Tim Dalgleish  5 , Mark T Greenberg  6 , Elizabeth Nuthall  2 , Alice Phillips  2 , Anam Raja  2 , Obioha C Ukoumunne  7 , Russell M Viner  8 , J Mark G Williams  2 , Matt Allwood  2 , Louise Aukland  2 , Tríona Casey  9 , Katherine De Wilde  2 , Eleanor-Rose Farley  2 , Nils Kappelmann  10 , Liz Lord  2 , Emma Medlicott  2 , Lucy Palmer  11 , Ariane Petit  2 , Isobel Pryor-Nitsch  2 , Lucy Radley  2 , Lucy Warriner  12 , Anna Sonley  2 ; MYRIAD Team; Willem Kuyken  13
Collaborators, Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The Role of Schools in Early Adolescents' Mental Health: Findings From the MYRIAD Study

Tamsin Ford et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Recent studies suggest mental health in youths is deteriorating. The current policy in the United Kingdom emphasizes the role of schools for mental health promotion and prevention, but little data exist on what aspects of schools influence mental health in pupils. This study explored school-level influences on the mental health of young people in a large school-based sample from the United Kingdom.

Method: Baseline data from a large cluster randomized controlled trial collected between 2016 and 2018 from mainstream secondary schools selected to be representative in relation to their quality rating, size, deprivation, mixed or single-sex pupil population, and country were analyzed. Participants were pupils in their first or second year of secondary school. The study assessed whether school-level factors were associated with pupil mental health.

Results: The study included 26,885 pupils (response rate = 90%; age range, 11‒14 years; 55% female) attending 85 schools in the United Kingdom. Schools accounted for 2.4% (95% CI: 2.0%‒2.8%; p < .0001) of the variation in psychopathology, 1.6% (95% CI: 1.2%‒2.1%; p < .0001) of depression, and 1.4% (95% CI: 1.0%‒1.7%; p < .0001) of well-being. Schools in urban locations, with a higher percentage of free school meals and of White British, were associated with poorer pupil mental health. A more positive school climate was associated with better mental health.

Conclusion: School-level variables, primarily related to contextual factors, characteristics of pupil population, and school climate, explain a small but significant amount of variability in mental health of young people. This information might be used to identify schools that are in need of more resources to support mental health of young people.

Clinical trial registration information: MYRIAD: My Resilience in Adolescence, a Study Examining the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Training Programme in Schools Compared With Normal School Provision; https://www.isrctn.com/; 86619085.

Keywords: adolescents; mental health; school climate; schools; well-being.

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References

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