These high-achieving yet disadvantaged children are grappling with acute mental health issues. Mental health and behavioral health hospitalization rates climb rapidly, reaching nearly 80 per 1,000 for people ages 11 to 20 [5]. This shocking statistic is the tip of a very painful iceberg. Our research shows that bright kids from lower income neighborhoods are twice as likely to require hospital care for mental illness compared to their wealthy counterparts. A new, in-depth study led by the UK’s Professor John Jerrim of University College London used data from the UK’s ECHILD database to examine these trends.
The research found that of high-achieving students from underprivileged backgrounds, 8.6% were admitted to hospitals for preventable circumstances. By comparison, only 4.2% of these high-achievers from rich families had the same experience. The results shed light on a troubling void that threatens these students’ mental health. This disadvantage can have a compounding negative impact on their academic achievement in the long term.
Insights from the ECHILD Database
Professor Jerrim’s research draws on the ECHILD database, which monitors hospital admissions due to various health conditions for children. By holding students’ feet to the fire on standardized SATs, he labeled the top 25% of their kids high-achievers. This new evidence-based approach provided the basis for a straightforward, apples-to-apples comparison of hospitalization rates among socio-economic groups.
Here’s what we found to be most notable from the study. Remarkably, it discovered that 3.1% of high-achieving children from disadvantaged backgrounds sought out treatment for drug or alcohol use. Just 1.3% of high-achieving students with comparable SAT scores from wealthy backgrounds experienced comparable problems. This disparity is indicative of a larger systemic problem that impacts the health and well-being of disadvantaged students.
The implications of these statistics are significant. UCL Institute of Education Professor of Education, Mateusz Jerrim, warns that mental health issues are holding students back and damaging their future prospects.
“If we are to help them fulfill their potential, we must support this group academically at school, and this needs to be accompanied by arrangements to help them to manage broader issues in their lives. This requires a joined-up approach across education, social care and health services.” – Professor John Jerrim
Gender Disparities in Health Outcomes
The study also shined a light on the role of gender inequities in health care access among these soon-to-be high-achievers. Notably, high-achieving girls from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be ten times more likely to receive pregnancy care compared to their wealthier peers (3.5% versus 0.3%). This frustratingly shocking figure represents the specific challenges younger female students from low-income families experience.
Moreover, the numbers are even more alarming for low-achieving girls from disadvantaged backgrounds—fully 12.9% received pregnancy care by age 20. These findings are alarming, especially as they relate to the intersection of academic achievement and eventual birth outcomes among young women.
The data tells us a different and compelling story. Hospitalizations spiked considerably during major transitional years — especially between Year 9 and Year 10. Professor Jerrim added that this growth was virtually the same for low-socio-economic status students, regardless of how well they performed academically.
Understanding the Broader Context
Professor Jerrim’s findings echo a growing chorus of evidence. Most importantly, they demonstrate how high-achieving kids from low-income, minority and disadvantaged backgrounds tend to lag behind their wealthier classmates as they move up through their educational career. These students are at the intersection of complex mental health challenges. All of these challenges are compounded by the many outside forces associated with their low socio-economic status.
The study illuminates some critical obstacles. Professor Jerrim is aware that all measures of academic achievement and socio-economic status have limitations. Nonetheless, the results highlight an urgent need for a comprehensive support system designed to address the unique needs of these vulnerable students.