Parental mental disorders and school performance among non-immigrant and second-generation immigrant children in Sweden

TL;DR

The study finds that parental mental disorders are linked to lower school performance in both non-immigrant and second-generation immigrant children in Sweden.

Contribution

This is the first study to examine the impact of parental mental disorders on school performance specifically among second-generation immigrant children.

Findings

Parental mental disorders were associated with lower school grades in both non-immigrant and second-generation immigrant children.

The effect of parental mental disorders on school grades was smaller among second-generation immigrant children compared to non-immigrant children.

School performance was generally lower among second-generation immigrant children regardless of parental mental health status.

Abstract

Immigrant children are often challenged at school. School performance is an important predictor of future socioeconomic position and mental and physical health. While studies have investigated parental mental disorders as a potential factor for poor school performance, no studies have investigated this among children with foreign-born parents, i.e., second-generation immigrant children. We aimed to examine whether parental depressive, anxiety, and personality disorders, affect school performance among non-immigrant children and second-generation immigrant children in Sweden.

Multiple nationwide population register data in Sweden were used. Non-immigrant children, i.e., children born to two Swedish-born parents (n = 593,515), and second-generation immigrant children with two foreign-born parents from non-Western regions (n = 71,721) were included. School grades in the final compulsory school year were used as outcome. Parental mental disorders were measured in the inpatient and outpatient registers. While adjusting for potential confounders, the association between parental mental disorders and school grades was assessed by a linear mixed model. Interaction terms were included to examine whether the association between parental mental disorders and school grades differed by children's immigration status.

Parental mental disorder was associated with lower school grades for both non-immigrant and second-generation immigrant children and in both males and females. The school grades were lower among second-generation immigrant children but the effect of parental mental disorder was smaller among second-generation immigrant children than among non-immigrant children.

Parental mental disorders affected the school performance of all children negatively. Future studies could examine what type of support at school for both second-generation immigrant children and non-immigrant children of parents with mental disorders are most beneficial.

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