Academic pressures and mental distress during adolescence: associations with participation in higher education

Academic pressures and mental distress during adolescence: associations with participation in higher education

Recent evidence suggests that adolescents with mental health issues are more likely to go on to attend university. Reasons for this point to academic pressures that may cause mental distress potentially being greater for those who plan to attend university. We aimed to investigate this hypothesis further by examining whether the extent to which mental distress is elevated relates to the selectivity of university that young people go on to attend. Logistic regression analyses were performed on survey responses from a nationally representative data set. Young people going on to more selective universities had elevated levels of mental distress at 15 and 17. By age 25, symptoms were no longer elevated for those who had attended either type of university. We argue that additional support needs to be provided during times that adolescents complete qualifications they perceive as being high-stakes.