ABSTRACT
This chapter describes mental health problems as they relate to the school context and to academic failure. The academic difficulties hypothesis states that academic problems cause emotional difficulties by generating feelings of frustration, anger, anxiety, incompetence, and disinterest. Several studies investigating the effects of adolescent academic achievement on mental health show that school failure is related to development of internalizing problems, particularly in girls. In J.-E. Gustafsson et al.'s systematic review of longitudinal relationships between mental health and academic achievement, internalizing and externalizing problems were both found to be associated with low academic achievement and premature termination of schooling. Mental health problems reduce the quality of life for youths and are predictive of both short- and long-term developmental problems. Looking for ways to approach the reciprocal relationship of academic and mental health problems, R.Roeser et al. recommend the use of behavioral interventions combined with helping students to reframe their biased perceptions of academic demands.
