Recent decades have seen a concerning increase in the prevalence of mental health issues among children and adolescents. Mental health issues, which typically emerge during adolescence, are now among the leading causes of disability in young people.
During the same period, everyday school life has been shaped by major societal changes – including digitalization and an increased emphasis on academic achievement. The rise in academic demands can be linked to the increased emphasis placed on formal skills and the declining labour market options for individuals with fewer qualifications. At the same time, the rapid digitalisation of education has had a profound impact on schools, with Norway being among the countries most proactive in providing digital devices to students. To understand whether these developments have contributed to the rise in mental health problems among young people, we need better knowledge about how different aspects of the school environment affect students’ mental health and well-being.
While the underlying causes of mental health issues are complex, this research project focus on social factors related to three key features of the school environment: i) the rise in academic demands, ii) the increased digitalisation of society, and iii) the role played by peers. The latter is motivated by the fact that few studies investigate the causal effects of school peers on mental health, despite the extensive literature on peer effects on other outcomes. The first two are motivated by both the rise in academic demands and the digitalisation of society, which have moved in tandem with the continuous rise in mental health problems and have shaped schools in ways that we have yet to uncover the consequences of.
A key theme is also how mental health disorders affect students’ academic performance and their likelihood of completing upper secondary education – and whether these relationships vary by gender and social background.
Privacy Policy Guidance
This project utilizes personal data from individuals who are difficult to contact for the purpose of providing individual information. The data is processed for research purposes, and the legal basis for the processing is the public interest. The project involves the use of ordinary personal data and health data. The data is obtained from the following sources: Statistics Norway (SSB), health registries and national data collections. In collaborative research projects, datasets may also be shared with external project participants and their affiliated institutions.
Some of the entities with whom the project shares data are located outside the EU/EEA. Data is transferred lawfully based on the Personal Data Act Article 46. The necessary safeguards for the transfer under Article 46 are the EU’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
The legality and privacy implications of the personal data processing have been assessed prior to the commencement of the project, which adheres to ethical guidelines for research. The Institute for Social Research is the data controller for the project.
Individuals who can be identified in the dataset have rights and may lodge complaints regarding the processing. Please feel free to contact our Data Protection Officer, the project manager, or the Norwegian Institute for Social Research if you have any questions or require guidance.
