Healthy Kids Learn Better
Mental Health and Academic Achievement

Epidemiological studies suggest that 12 to 30 percent of U.S. school-age children
and youth experience at least moderate behavioral, social, or emotional problems i.

Recent studies vindicate what has long been common sense among many teachers and parents:
children who are given clear behavioral standards and social skills, allowing them to feel safe,
valued, confident and challenged, will exhibit better school behavior and also learn moreii.

A significant negative correlation is found between psychosocial stress and grades (r= -0.20),
indicating that students experiencing high levels of psychosocial stress tend to do poorly in schooliii.

Over half of the adolescents in the United States who fail to complete their secondary education
have a diagnosable psychiatric disorderiv.

High depression scores are associated with low academic achievement, high scholastic anxiety and
poor peer and teacher relationshipsv.

Anxiety disorders are associated with drug use and dependence, suicidal behavior and a reduced
likelihood of attending collegevi.

Teens who have made a suicide attempt in the previous twelve months showed significantly lower
levels of school performance and school connectedness than non-attempters vii.

Adolescents with a 6-month diagnosis of alcohol or drug abuse/dependence were found to have
poorer school performance viii.

Moderate substance use and/or violence/delinquency were associated with test scores a full level
below scores of groups of students not involved in these behaviors. These findings take into
account important factors such as gender, race-ethnicity, and poverty ix.

Findings from the 2006 Oregon Healthy
Teens Survey, show that 14% of the 8th
grade students that rated their general
emotional and mental health as excellent
reported having mostly low grades - C,
D, and Fs. By comparison 45% of the
8th graders that rated their emotional
and mental health as fair or poor,
reported having mostly low gradesx.
Satisfying the social and emotional
needs of students prepares them to
learn, increases their capacity to learn,
and increases their motivation to learn.
It also improves attendance, graduation
rates, and reduces suspension,
expulsion, and grade retentionxi.
Oregon Health Teens 2006
Percent respondents

Would you say that in general your emotional
and mental health is...? (n=2,041)
100%
86%
78%
80%
71%
55%
60%
45%
40%
20%
14%
29%
22%
0%
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair or Poor
Percent 8th graders that mostly had C,D and F grades last year
Percent 8th graders that mostly had A and B grades last year
Oregon Public Health Division
November 2006
i
Juvonen, J., Le, V., Kaganoff, T., Augustine, C., & Louay, C. (2004). Focus on the Wonder Years: Challenges
Facing the American Middle School.Rand Education. , pp 47-48. (available at:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG139.pdf)
ii
Shriver, T.P.& Weissberg, R.P.(2005) No Emotion Left Behind.The New York Times.August 16, 2005, Tuesday;
Editorial Desk Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 15, Column 1.
iii
Alatorre Alva, S. & de Los Reyes, R. (1999). Psychosocial stress, internalized symptoms, and the academic
achievement of Hispanic Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research. 14(3): July:343-358. (As found in
Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
iv
Stoep, A.V., Weiss, N.S., Kuo, E.S., Cheney, D. & Cohen, P. (2003). What proportion of failure to complete
secondary school in the US population is attributable to adolescent psychiatric disorder? Journal of Behavioral
Health Services & Research. 30(1):119-24. (As found in Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic
Achievement fact sheet)
http://www.teenscreen.org/cms/images/stories/mental%20health%20and%20academic%20achievement%2012.1.
05.pdf
v
Fosterling, F. & Binser, M.J. (2002). Depression, school performance and the veridicality of perceived grades
and causal attributions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 28(10):1441-1449. (As found in Columbia
Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
Marmorstein, N.R. & Iacono W.G. (2001). An investigation of female adolescent twins with both major depression
and conduct disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 40(3):299-306. (As
found in Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
Masi et al. (2001). Depressive symptoms and academic self-image in adolescence. Psychopathology. 34:57-61.
(As found in Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
vi
Woodward L.J. & Fergusson, D.M. (2001). Life course outcomes of young people with anxiety disorders in
adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 40(9):1086-1093 (As found
in Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
vii
Slap G., Goodman, E. & Huang, B. (2001). Adoption as a risk factor for attempted suicide during adolescence.
Pediatrics. 108(2):E30. (As found in Columbia Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
viii
Reinherz et al. (1993). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a community population of older adolescents.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 32(2):369-377. (As found in Columbia
Teenscreen Mental Health and Academic Achievement fact sheet)
ix
Washington Kids Count Human Services Policy Center. (2002) The Impact of Substance Use and
Violence/Delinquency on Academic Achievement For Groups of Middle and High School Students in Washington.
University of Washington, May.
x
Oregon Adolescent Health Section analysis of 2006 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey data. Prepared November
13, 2006.
xi
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2003). Safe and Sound: An Educational
Leader’s Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs. Chicago, IL.
Oregon Public Health Division
November 2006