Brilliant children of poorer backgrounds twice as likely to receive mental health treatment as well

Brilliant children from poorer backgrounds are twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with mental health problems as high performance with rich education.

It is according to a new study of tens of thousands of secondary school students in England, published in the newspaper evaluated by peers Oxford Review of Educationwhich also demonstrates that poorer adolescents are more likely to be treated for alcohol and drug use and self -harm.

The document also shows that they are also more likely to become pregnant.

The author of the study, Professor John Jerrim, of the UCL (University College of London), said that his results could help explain why very efficient young people from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to take behind their most advantageous peers as they age.

Renowned expert in the study of mental health and well-being in education, Professor Jerrim calls for education, health care and social services to help these young people to achieve their potential.

“The results show that high -level children from disadvantaged backgrounds are hospitalized due to mental health problems and behavior problems at a rate of around 80 per 1,000 children aged 11 to 20.

“This is significantly higher than the rate of around 40 for 1,000 children for their equally competent peers but more socio-economicly advantageous,” he adds.

“The results indicate the need for services to develop their responses to the complex needs of young people.

“By promoting favorable and inclusive environments, these services can better meet the unique needs of individuals, promoting possibilities of fair success.”

This new research is part of a broader study “The long -term results of disadvantaged children with high performance”.

Professor Jerrim used information from the Echild database, which contains anonymized information from hospitals and schools, to examine how hospital admissions for a range of conditions differ between the great performances of different socio-economic groups between 11 and 20 years.

The conditions included in the analysis were as follows: mental health problems such as anxiety and depression; personality disorders such as bipolar disorder; alcohol or drug abuse; autumutilation; and food disorders.

The results of SATS, the national exams passed at the end of primary school, were used to measure academic success, with the 25% most classified as high.

Socio-economic status was based on the eligibility of a child to free school meals and the area in which they lived.

Among the results, data analysis on more than 42,000 high performance revealed:

• Students from the most disadvantaged circles were about twice as likely that of the most advantageous groups to admit to the hospital for one of the conditions studied (8.6% were admitted between 11 and 20 against 4.2%).

• A similar scheme was observed when zero on the treatment of alcohol and drug use. 3.1% of high performance of the poorest history was treated for drug or alcohol consumption. This is compared to 1.3% of children with similar SAT scores from affluent backgrounds.

• The treatments of the self -use hospital presented an even sharper alignment between socio -economic history, regardless of the levels of success – with the rate among more advantageous children. The increase between the 7th and 10th year is almost identical to low-economic status students, regardless of their academic results.
• The results of the pregnancy have been particularly striking, with very efficient girls from disadvantaged backgrounds ten times more likely to receive pregnancy care than their richer peers (3.5% against 0.3%).

This is however still much lower than the rate of weaknesses from disadvantaged environments. In a distinct part of the study, Professor Jerrim showed that 12.9% of low -performance girls in disadvantaged backgrounds had received pregnancy care at the age of 20.

Only food disorders have buckled the trend, with similar rates to hospital between high performance from different socio-economic horizons.

Finally, there was a sharp increase in hospitalizations for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds during the 9th and 10th year.

Professor Jerrim recognizes that the success of success and socio-economic status were not perfect. In addition, less serious health problems which are generally observed by a general practitioner have not been included in the analysis.

Nevertheless, he thinks that his results clearly show that young brilliants from disadvantaged backgrounds need additional support for school – and home.

Jerrim, who is a professor of education and social statistics at the UCL education institute, explains: “Socio-economicly disadvantaged children with high levels of early success are perhaps the lowest fruits to promote social mobility. Despite their impoverished education, these children have managed to overcome poverty to be out of their placement of their more advanced emmeric.

“They have the potential to flourish in a high -level university and obtain high -flying jobs. However, many of them are not up to their early promise.

“This research provides clues to the reasons.

“If we want to help them achieve their potential, we must support this academic group at school, and this must be accompanied by arrangements to help them manage wider problems in their lives.

“Until it happens, the full potential of this group is likely to continue not to be satisfied.”