School absences “significantly contribute” to children’s mental ill health, according to research backed by the Office for National Statistics that shows the risks increase the longer a child is absent.
“Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health,” the authors, from Loughborough University and the ONS, concluded.
The study, involving more than 1 million school-age children in England, found the relationship between absence and mental health was “a two-way street”, with lengthy absences increasing the likelihood of later hospital treatment. It also found children with existing mental health problems took more time off school.
Experts called for further research to find out what causes the poor attendance, with secondary schools in England recording persistently high rates of absence since the Covid pandemic.
Louise Vesely-Shore of the ONS said: “This work suggests that absence from school can have a detrimental effect on some young people’s mental health. We also found that young people with mental health issues had a higher level of absence from school.
“But for students with mental ill health who received additional support at school, such as education, health and care plans, free school meals and Send [special educational needs and disabilities] support, the increase in absence was lessened.
“More work is needed to understand this better, but clearly schools can play a vital role in supporting some students with mental health conditions.”
One of the study’s main findings was the proportion of hospital visits related to mental ill health rose more rapidly among children who were the most persistently absent.
While fewer than two in every 100 children and young people with full school attendance made hospital visits for mental health difficulties, the rate was nearly four in 100 among those absent for more than 20% of the time, and more than five in 100 among those with a 30% absence rate.
The chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ child and adolescent faculty, Dr Guy Northover, said it was an important piece of research showing that school was a “protective factor” for many children.
“What this is basically showing, as far as I can see, is that you are more likely to end up in a mental health crisis as a child or young person if you are not in school than if you are in school,” he said.
He also said it would be useful to know why more absent children were going to hospital in a crisis: “What this data shows us is that there is a significant increase but it doesn’t unpick the reasons why or the presentations of mental illness. Is the child at a higher risk, or is it because a child who gets less support while at home moves more rapidly from being stable to being in a crisis?”
The impact of each increase in absence was found to be worse for girls than boys, while children with Send almost doubled their probability of mental ill health for every 1% increase in absence when compared with their peers without special needs.
However, the effect of mental ill health on school attendance was slightly improved for children with certain forms of Send support, while those receiving support for moderate or severe learning difficulties, or speech, language and communication needs, had better levels of attendance.
The head of external affairs and research at the YoungMinds charity, Olly Parker, said young people often missed school because they were unable to get the support they needed quickly enough.
“We hear on our helpline from parents whose children are experiencing emotionally-based school avoidance, and the causes are often varied and complicated,” he said. “This could be because of anxiety, bullying, academic pressure, difficult relationships or a lack of support.”
The researchers examined the school records and census data of 1.1 million children in England aged five- to 16 and living at home with two parents.
Dr Simona Rasciute of Loughborough University, who led the analysis for the ONS, said: “This is the first large-scale data-linkage initiative in England to connect children’s education and health records with both of their parents’ health records and socioeconomic characteristics, alongside household and neighbourhood factors.
“This innovative work has allowed us to uncover new insights into the drivers of the children and young people’s mental health crisis in England.”
The Department for Education says getting more pupils attending school regularly is a “top priority” for the government. In 2023-24, one in five pupils in England were classed as “persistently absent” after missing 10% or more school lessons.
