The effects of mental health disorders followed adolescents into adulthood, resulting in poorer education and employment, according to a series of meta-analyses on the relationship between adolescent health and adult outcomes.
Daniel R. Hale, PhD, of University College London Institute of Child Health in the UK, and colleagues, reported that the majority of examined findings (61 out of 70) identified poorer educational and employment outcomes in those with adolescent health problems than in healthy controls.
Around 75% of these analyses (53 out of 70) found either significant associations or trends between adolescent mental health conditions and poorer outcomes, they wrote in Pediatrics.
Mental health disorders were defined as depressive disorders, ADHD, anxiety disorders, conduct disorders, and undiagnosed psychiatric conditions.
The most significant association between adolescent mental health and education was in failure to complete secondary school. Adolescents with mental health disorders had a pooled OR of 2.4 for failure of secondary school completion, as well as increased risk of not participating in postsecondary education (pooled OR 1.6). There was no association with total number of years of education, though the authors note the number of studies examined was small (n=4).
[For more of this story, written by Molly Walker, go to http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pe...eralPediatrics/52238]
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