Session: Mental Health, Neurodiversity, and Youth Transitions
How early mental and physical health trajectories shape NEET outcomes in young adulthood: a lifecourse perspective with the Millennium Cohort Study (Dominic Kelly, UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies)
Almost one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) has reached a critical juncture which provides the opportunity to longitudinally examine the associations between early health and later NEET status. Mental and physical health predictors at age 17, in addition to chronic indicators of behavioural and mental problems across childhood, from MCS were associated with NEET status at age 23. Preliminary results suggest that longstanding mental and physical health problems, psychological distress, self-harming, suicidal behaviours, problematic social media behaviour and obesity at age 17 were all associated with an increased likelihood of being NEET at age 23. In addition, chronic externalising, internalising and mental health problems were all also associated with an increased likelihood of being NEET at age 23.
Economic outcomes of autistic and ADHD young adults: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study at Age 23 (Ella Moxon, University of Sheffield)
Autism and ADHD are often reported to be associated with negative economic outcomes and there is active policy discourse surrounding the role of formal diagnoses. This study aims to understand the association between age of identification of either autism or ADHD on economic outcomes at age 23, using the most recent sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study. Four self-reported economic outcomes are considered: current economic activity, benefits claims, income band and highest achieved level of education. To estimate the size of these associations, logistic regressions were used. We find that those identified as autistic/ADHD between ages 11-14 and 17-23 typically have higher odds of more favourable outcomes than those diagnosed between ages 14 and 17. While the mechanisms underlying this association are complex, these preliminary findings suggest there may be a link between age of identification and future economic outcomes.
Adolescent mental health, area deprivation and risk of not being in education, employment or training (NEET) in early adulthood: evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study (Katie Taylor, UCL)
Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, this study examines whether mental health at ages 14 and 17, and area deprivation at age 14, predict being not in education, employment or training (NEET) at age 23. Logistic regression models estimate main effects and interactions, with average marginal effects for interpretation. Poorer mental health at ages 14 and 17 was associated with higher probability of later NEET, with strongest associations observed for mental health at age 17 and persistent symptoms across adolescence. Lower area deprivation was associated with a small reduction in NEET probability. Interaction models suggest that deprivation may amplify the association between some adverse mental health patterns and later NEET. The findings highlight the importance of adolescent mental health as a policy-relevant predictor of disengagement with education, employment and training.
Rethinking Special Educational Needs Labels (Umar Toseeb, University of York)
Background: Children with special educational needs (SEN) often have poorer social, emotional, cognitive, and academic outcomes than peers. Existing SEN labels fail to capture the full range of strengths and challenges. This study aimed to derive data-driven categories to better describe children’s profiles in school. Methods: Data from three UK longitudinal cohorts (N?49,000) were analysed using latent mixture modelling to identify subgroups across early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. These were compared with SEN labels in predicting young adult outcomes. Results: Data-derived subgroups differed from SEN labels; ~60% of children experienced some difficulty, typically with a primary need plus others. They sometimes predicted outcomes better, but not consistently. Conclusions: Data-driven groupings better reflect children’s experiences and could improve needs-based support.
Better parent-child relationships attenuate the impact of special educational needs and disabilities on educational outcomes: Evidence from Next Steps and linked National Pupil Database (Ziqing Ye, University of Exeter)
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEN) have worse educational outcome compared to their peers without SEN. Parent-child relationships are positively correlated with educational outcomes in children. We examined the moderating effect of parent-child relationships on the association between SEN status and capped GCSE point score as key stage 4 (KS4) outcomes. Using data from Next Steps and linked National Pupil Database records (N=12,430), exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed three latent factors in parent-child relationships: closeness, conflicts and autonomy. Latent moderated structural equation modelling showed that higher levels of closeness and autonomy, lower levels of conflict were positively associated with KS4 outcomes. The negative impact of SEN on the KS4 outcomes was attenuated by lower levels of parent-child conflict.
