The impact of personal, environmental, and biopsychosocial factors in and out of school on students´ mental health and well-being: A longitudinal cohort study

Research statement: The project will study young peoples´ mental health by applying a holistic perspective on school-related well-being during the period 1980 to 2023, and identify relationships among bio-psycho-social factors, academic achievement, and the effects of different education and grading systems.The mental health and well-being of children and young people has deteriorated in recent years, according to international research and the Swedish Public Health Agency.

In Sweden, children show lower satisfaction with life compared with children in other European countries.

Psychosomatic symptoms such as sleep problems, anxiety, and nervousness have increased in recent decades, and especially in the last ten years.

This is an alarming result, as a healthy development during childhood and adolescence is important for the level of education and for the opportunity to live a satisfying and productive life.

Research has shown that schools have become increasingly recognized for playing a key role in promoting the health and well-being of young people.Data and method: The project will use data from the national infrastructure Evaluation through Follow-up (UGU).

The project is based on a nationally representative sample of students from eight cohorts born between 1967 and 2004 with a total of 76,673 students in grades 6 with follow ups in grades 9 and 12. Students´ answers to questionnaires in grades 6, 9, and 12 will be used.

These data contain also information such as grades, results on national tests, and student background variables.Plan for project realisation: The project will run for three years, 2023-2025.

Three sub-projects will be carried out and the analyses will be based on large-scale data, which makes it possible to investigate relationships between personal and school-related characteristics.

Both descriptive and more advanced statistical analyses will be performed, such as e.g. confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.Relevance: The aim of the project is to develop in-depth knowledge on how children and adolescents´ mental health has changed from the early 1980s to today, and what relationships exist between personal, environmental, and social factors and children and adolescents´ mental health.

The project will also find out what these relationships look like for different groups of students, e.g. girls and boys, and low- and high-achieving students.