scholarly journals Educational level, attention problems, and externalizing behaviour in adolescence and early adulthood: the role of social causation and health-related selection—the TRAILS study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Schmengler ◽  
Margot Peeters ◽  
Gonneke W. J. M. Stevens ◽  
Anton E. Kunst ◽  
Catharina A. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Attention Problems ◽  
Social Causation ◽  
Educational Differences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Externalizing Behaviour

AbstractSocial causation and health-related selection may contribute to educational differences in adolescents’ attention problems and externalizing behaviour. The social causation hypothesis posits that the social environment influences adolescents’ mental health. Conversely, the health-related selection hypothesis proposes that poor mental health predicts lower educational attainment. From past studies it is unclear which of these mechanisms predominates, as attention problems and externalizing behaviour have the potential to interfere with educational attainment, but may also be affected by differences in the educational context. Furthermore, educational gradients in mental health may reflect the impact of ‘third variables’ already present in childhood, such as parental socioeconomic status (SES), and IQ. We investigated both hypotheses in relation to educational differences in externalizing behaviour and attention problems throughout adolescence and young adulthood. We used data from a Dutch cohort (TRAILS Study; n = 2229), including five measurements of educational level, externalizing behaviour, and attention problems from around age 14–26 years. First, we evaluated the directionality in longitudinal associations between education, externalizing behaviour, and attention problems with and without adjusting for individual differences using fixed effects. Second, we assessed the role of IQ and parental SES in relation to attention problems, externalizing behaviour, and educational level. Attention problems predicted decreases in education throughout all of adolescence and young adulthood. Differences in parental SES contributed to increases in externalizing behaviour amongst the lower educational tracks in mid-adolescence. Childhood IQ and parental SES strongly predicted education around age 14. Parental SES, but not IQ, also predicted early adolescent attention problems and externalizing behaviour. Our results provide support for the health-related selection hypothesis in relation to attention problems and educational attainment. Further, our results highlight the role of social causation from parental SES in determining adolescent educational level, attention problems, and externalizing behaviour.

scholarly journals 1161Educational level, attention problems, and externalizing behaviour in adolescence – Social causation versus health-related selection

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Schmengler ◽  
Margot Peeters ◽  
Gonneke W.J.M. Stevens ◽  
Anton E. Kunst ◽  
Catharina A. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Attention Problems ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Educational Performance ◽  
Social Causation ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Externalizing Behaviour ◽  
Adolescence And Young Adulthood ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Social causation and health-related selection may contribute to educational gradients in adolescents’ attention problems (AP) and externalizing behaviour (EB). From past studies it is unclear which of these mechanisms predominates, as AP and EB have the potential to interfere with educational performance, but may also be affected by differences in the educational context. Furthermore, gradients in AP and EB may reflect confounding by stable background characteristics, which are often unmeasured (e.g. genetics). We investigated social causation and health-related selection in the development of educational differences in EB and AP. Methods We used data from a Dutch population-based cohort (TRAILS Study; n = 2,229), including measurements of educational level, EB, and AP at ages around 14, 16, 19, 22, and 26 years. We employed cross-lagged panel models with fixed effects. This novel method allowed to evaluate the directionality in longitudinal associations between education, EB, and AP, whilst simultaneously controlling for time-stable individual differences. Results AP, but not EB, consistently predicted decreases in subsequent educational level throughout all of adolescence and young adulthood. Regarding social causation, only lower education around age 14 predicted increases in AP around age 16, though this effect was not robust in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions AP interfere with educational performance and have the potential to negatively affect adolescents’ educational attainment throughout all phases of adolescence and young adulthood. Key messages Interventions to address the impact of AP on education are necessary in all age groups. Hereby, it is important to take developmental differences into account.

scholarly journals Education and alcohol use in adolescence – The role of social causation and health-related selection

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Schmengler ◽  
M Peeters ◽  
A E Kunst ◽  
A J Oldehinkel ◽  
W A M Vollebergh
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Effortful Control ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Social Causation ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Longitudinal Associations

Abstract Background Both social causation and health-related selection may influence educational gradients in alcohol use in adolescence. From past studies it is unclear which of these mechanisms predominates, as drinking may be both a cause and consequence of low educational attainment. Furthermore, gradients in alcohol use may reflect 'third variables' already present in childhood, such as parental socioeconomic status (SES), effortful control, and IQ. We investigated social causation and health-related selection in the development of educational gradients in alcohol use. Methods We used data from a Dutch population-based cohort (TRAILS Study; n = 2,229), including measurements of educational level and drinking at ages around 14, 16, 19, 22, and 26 years. First, we evaluated the directionality in longitudinal associations between education and alcohol use with cross-lagged panel models, with and without adjusting for pre-existing individual differences using fixed effects. Second, we assessed the role of childhood characteristics around age 11, i.e. IQ, effortful control, and parental SES, both as confounders in these longitudinal associations, and as predictors of educational level and drinking around age 14. Results In fixed effects models, lower education at age 14 strongly predicted increases in drinking at 16. From age 19 onward, we found a non-significant tendency towards opposite associations, with higher education predicting increases in alcohol use. Alcohol use was not associated with subsequent changes in education. All childhood characteristics strongly predicted education around age 14 and, to a lesser extent, early drinking. Conclusions We found conclusive evidence for social causation from education to alcohol use in early adolescence only, and no evidence for selection attributable to alcohol use. By determining initial educational level, childhood characteristics also predict subsequent trajectories in alcohol use. Key messages Our findings illustrate the importance of social causation in relation to alcohol use in early adolescence, while no support was found for health-related selection from alcohol use to education. Parental SES, effortful control, and IQ in childhood strongly predicted educational level in early adolescence, which subsequently predicted trajectories in alcohol use during adolescence.

scholarly journals Culture and psychopathology: An attempt at reconsidering the role of social learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Peter Fonagy ◽  
Chloe Campbell ◽  
Matthew Constantinou ◽  
Anna Higgitt ◽  
Elizabeth Allison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Affect Regulation ◽  
Developmental Psychopathology ◽  
Mental Health Disorder ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Developmental Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
P Factor

Abstract This paper proposes a model for developmental psychopathology that is informed by recent research suggestive of a single model of mental health disorder (the p factor) and seeks to integrate the role of the wider social and cultural environment into our model, which has previously been more narrowly focused on the role of the immediate caregiving context. Informed by recently emerging thinking on the social and culturally driven nature of human cognitive development, the ways in which humans are primed to learn and communicate culture, and a mentalizing perspective on the highly intersubjective nature of our capacity for affect regulation and social functioning, we set out a cultural-developmental approach to psychopathology.

The Role of Social Media in Adolescent Loneliness and Mental Health Problems: Current Evidence and Suggestions for Future Work

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warner Myntti ◽  
Jensen Spicer ◽  
Carol Janney ◽  
Stacey Armstrong ◽  
Sarah Domoff
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Relationship

Adolescents are spending more time interacting with peers online than in person, evidencing the need to examine this shift’s implications for adolescent loneliness and mental health. The current review examines research documenting an association between social media use and mental health, and highlights several specific areas that should be further explored as mechanisms within this relationship. Overall, it appears that frequency of social media use, the kind of social media use, the social environment, the platform used, and the potential for adverse events are especially important in understanding the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health.

“I Just Can’t”

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Alan Meca ◽  
Kelsie Allison ◽  
Julie Rodil ◽  
Kenneth Ayers ◽  
Kyle Eichas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
The Social

This chapter explores the social and emotional development of emerging adults and focuses on how it contributes to feelings of anxiety, inability to make decisions, uncertainty, and lack of belonging. It provides information on how identity impacts mental health, particularly during this developmental stage. Various theories are discussed, with information provided on the role of the social-cultural content. The Miami Adult Development Project serves as a case study of an identify-focused intervention with mental health outcomes. Guiding questions help readers better understand the role identity development plays in risk and resilience during this “age of uncertainty.”

The wider social system

2021 ◽  
pp. 238-281
Author(s):  
Robbie Duschinsky ◽  
Sarah Foster
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social System ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Epistemic Trust ◽  
School Based ◽  
System P ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Critics have alleged that in attempting to adapt to the individual-centric environment of contemporary health provision, mentalization-based therapy itself has been complicit with the atomization of society. Conversations with his colleague Peter Fuggle and Dickon Bevington at the Anna Freud Centre have also had a profound role in highlighting to Fonagy the importance of the wider social system around the individual. Pursuing these questions, this chapter begins by examining the growing attention to the social environment shown by Fonagy and colleagues, and especially their exploration of the role of friends and friendships for mentalization and epistemic trust. It will then examine the reflections and research by Fonagy and collaborators on public mental health. The researchers’ hopes regarding school-based prevention will be given particular attention, and the chapter will also show how this work has shaped Fonagy’s efforts as a policy influencer. Finally, the chapter will appraise the considerations offered by Fonagy and colleagues of the role of culture, in particular the issue of whether attention to cultural processes should be regarded as mentalizing, non-mentalizing or as not mentalizing, and whether organizations and societies can themselves be said to institutionalize cultures of mentalizing or non-mentalizing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document