Girls, mental health and academic achievement: a qualitative systematic review

Stentiford, Lauren; Koutsouris, George; Allan, Alexandra

doi:10.1080/00131911.2021.2007052

Cited by 27 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Some evidence indicates a relationship between gender norm perceptions and low mood and anxiety [46], and qualitative evidence suggests gender norms can be stressful and elicit upset and worry among girls [28,29]. Quantitative and qualitative evidence suggests that educational pressure and gendered educational discourses may have speci c rami cations for girls [22,47]. There are complexities around peer relationships and mental health, with evidence that 'negative' (e.g., bullying) and 'positive' (e.g., peer connection aspects) components of peer relationships can be associated with greater low mood and anxiety [48,49] and that girls can engage in co-rumination in problematic ways [50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent girls’ explanations of high rates of low mood and anxiety in their population: A co-produced qualitative study

Demkowicz,

Jefferson,

Nanda

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background: From early adolescence, girls face greater risk of experiencing low mood and anxiety, with recent evidence that this may be worsening. There is a paucity of mental health research that meaningfully progresses understanding of such disparities, including that engages adolescent girls’ own perspectives, limiting our ability to direct further research and enhance intervention approaches. Aims: We examined low mood and anxiety from the perspective of adolescent girls, rather than relyingon researcher hypotheses, asking: What do adolescent girls perceive to be causing their population’s high rates of low mood and anxiety? Methods: We adopted a co-produced qualitative design, guided by ecological systems theory, conducting focus groups in 2022 with 32 adolescent girls aged 16 to 18 years in England, and analysing with reflexive thematic analysis. Analysis: Participants framed low mood and anxiety among adolescent girls as ‘normal’, and discussed potential explanations including persistent reiteration and expectation of gendered norms, intense educational pressures in ways that can be gendered, difficulties within peer relationships, and comparison and insecurity in social media contexts. Throughout, participants highlighted complexities including individual differences, sociodemographic contexts, and societal contexts. Conclusions: The study offers a critically important contribution to evidence on gendered inequalities in low mood and anxiety, drawing attention to the interwoven and complex nature of girls’ lives, and holds policy and practical relevance to enhance systems to meet girls’ needs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent girls’ explanations of high rates of low mood and anxiety in their population: A co-produced qualitative study

Demkowicz,

Jefferson,

Nanda

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Another debate concerns whether mental health predicts educational attainment similarly among young men and women (e.g., Riglin et al, 2013). Particularly noteworthy is the growing concern among policymakers and in media debates that girls’ educational attainment could be hampered by mental ill-health more than boys’ educational attainment (Stentiford et al, 2021). In fact, links between mental health and educational outcomes might vary by gender for various reasons—because girls and boys tend to experience substantially different types of mental health problems (Campbell et al, 2021), because there are gender-specific behaviors and responses to challenges in the educational domain (Eschenbeck et al, 2007), or because there are gender differences in how young people cope with common stressors and mental health problems (Wilhsson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Mental Health Gender and Educational Attainment At Various D...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health and educational attainment: How developmental stage matters.

Burger,

Becker,

Schoon

2024

Developmental Psychology

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Developmental science suggests that the consequences of mental health problems for life-course outcomes may depend on the timing of their onset. This study investigated the extent to which mental health predicted educational attainment at ages 17, 20, and 25 and whether gender moderated the links between mental health and educational attainment. It used data from Next Steps, a nationally representative panel survey of individuals born in 1989/1990 in England (N = 15,594, 48% female, 33% ethnic minority). The findings suggest that differences in mental health were more consequential for educational attainment during adolescence than in young adulthood. On average, girls attained higher levels of education than boys, but gender did not moderate the role that mental health played for educational attainment. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that educational attainment is more sensitive to good or bad mental health during adolescence than in young adulthood. This indicates a need to protect and promote mental health, in particular among adolescents, to empower them to achieve their academic potential. Findings also indicate that poor mental health is likely to impair the educational attainment of male and female adolescents in equal measure. Thus, mental health professionals should take warning signs of a mental illness in male and female adolescents equally seriously and should intervene in the same way where necessary.

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“…In the last decades, there has been increasing concern about the mental health of children and young people [1][2][3][4]. It is usually considered that high academic pressure and the need to succeed in school can have a negative impact on the psychological well-being of students [5][6][7][8] and can even lead to the development of school-related burnout [8][9][10]. Considering the already damaging effects of that phenomenon, the recent COVID-19 pandemic might have exacerbated it, as its impact on schools and educational institutions was severe [11], affecting no less than 1.5 billion learners during COVID-19's first wave [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Qigong Be a Tool to Assist Students in Handling COVID-19’s Resulting Academic Stress?

et al. 2023

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The recent COVID-19 pandemic has increased students’ stress as they may feel under increased pressure to have a good performance and compensate for the disruption to their education. Improving attention levels and learning capacity may assist in ameliorating academic performance. Qigong is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that appears to have positive effects on the management of mental health and may provide tools for coping with stressful situations. This paper explores data obtained while conducting a previous study and includes an excess of data from a total of 44 participants who were previously divided into an experimental Qigong group and a sham Qigong control group. The improvements in specific auditory processing and reaction times may indicate benefits in attention and learning capacity. These improvements were more pronounced in the experimental Qigong group compared to the sham Qigong group. Qigong may be able to assist in improving students’ academic performance and can be easily integrated into physical education classes. It could also assist students to cope with the increased academic pressure resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic context.

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Girls, mental health and academic achievement: a qualitative systematic review

Cited by 27 publications

References 69 publications

Adolescent girls’ explanations of high rates of low mood and anxiety in their population: A co-produced qualitative study

Adolescent girls’ explanations of high rates of low mood and anxiety in their population: A co-produced qualitative study

Mental health and educational attainment: How developmental stage matters.

Can Qigong Be a Tool to Assist Students in Handling COVID-19’s Resulting Academic Stress?

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