A survey of the health and social problems of over 3500 adults has suggested that teenage pupils who have problems at school are more likely to experience personal problems in their adult life – including divorce and depression. The behaviour at 13 to 15 is seen as a predictor of behaviour aged 36 to 53.
The pupils in question mostly left with no qualifications. Thus in some regards it is not surprising that they might have financial concerns later. But the report in the British Medical Journal shows that the results hold true even when other factors are taken into account, such as sex, class, and ability..
According to official figures, behaviour problems affect around 7% of 9 to 15 year olds, and these have been increasing in the past 30 years, year on year.
Of course the figures don’t in any way say that all teenagers with behaviour issues are likely to get problems later in life, but the figures are indicators.
I was told in conversation by a colleague who usually knows what’s what that the rate of psychiatric issues within the popuations of the English speaking world is much higher than in the rest of the Western world. The reason, he said, was our determination to follow the materialistic, success at all cost route. If I can find the source of these comments, I’ll pass them on, because it does seem to me it adds to this debate – for there is (at least to my mind) always a social element as well as a psychological element.
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