National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Studiestræde 6, 1455, Copenhagen, Denmark.
BMC Psychol. 2021 Aug 18;9(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s40359-021-00621-7.
Mental health represents an important public health issue, and mental health problems have been linked to school dropout. This study aimed to identify mental health groups of high school students using both positive and negative aspects of mental health and to examine whether these mental health groups longitudinally predict school dropout.
We conducted latent class analysis using the Danish National Youth Study 2014 (n = 60,526; mean 17.9 years) to identify clustering of mental health (11 items covering positive and negative aspects of emotional wellbeing and functioning in daily life), separately by sex. The relationship with subsequent school dropout was examined using logistic regression models, adjusted for age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Information on dropout status was obtained through educational registers.
School dropout rates was highest among first-year students. Four mental health groups were identified: Flourishing (females: 38%, males: 55%), moderate mental health (females: 15%, males: 20%), emotionally challenged (females: 28%, males: 15%) and languishing (females: 19%, males: 10%). Compared to the flourishing group, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for dropout were 3.43 (95% CI: 2.98, 3.95), 1.73 (95% CI: 1.45, 2.06) and 1.76 (95% CI: 1.52, 2.04) in the languishing, moderate mentally healthy and emotional challenged females. Results in males were comparable.
Mental health in high school students cluster together in four categories among both males and females. Students who are languishing, emotionally challenged or moderate mentally healthy have about 1.5-fold to threefold higher risk of dropping out of high school compared with flourishing students. Universal mental health interventions may be a promising strategy, particularly in the first year of high school where most students drop out of school.
心理健康是一个重要的公共卫生问题，心理健康问题与辍学有关。本研究旨在使用心理健康的积极和消极方面来确定高中生的心理健康群体，并检验这些心理健康群体是否会纵向预测辍学。
我们使用丹麦全国青年研究 2014 年的数据（n=60526；平均年龄 17.9 岁）进行潜在类别分析，以确定性别分别的心理健康聚类（涵盖情绪幸福感和日常生活功能的积极和消极方面的 11 个项目）。使用逻辑回归模型，调整年龄、种族和社会经济地位后，检验与随后辍学的关系。辍学状况的信息通过教育登记册获得。
一年级学生的辍学率最高。确定了四个心理健康群体：繁荣（女性：38%，男性：55%）、中等心理健康（女性：15%，男性：20%）、情绪挑战（女性：28%，男性：15%）和萎靡（女性：19%，男性：10%）。与繁荣组相比，女性中萎靡、中等心理健康和情绪挑战组的辍学调整比值比（AOR）分别为 3.43（95%可信区间：2.98，3.95）、1.73（95%可信区间：1.45，2.06）和 1.76（95%可信区间：1.52，2.04）。男性的结果相似。
高中生的心理健康可分为四类，男女均如此。与繁荣的学生相比，萎靡、情绪挑战或中等心理健康的学生从高中辍学的风险高 1.5 倍至 3 倍。普及心理健康干预可能是一种很有前途的策略，尤其是在大多数学生辍学的高中一年级。
