(Press-News.org) Research in Health Economics indicates that introducing school grades—with A as the highest grade and F as a failing grade—at younger ages may negatively affect children’s mental health.
In Sweden, students traditionally received individual grades beginning in eighth grade (around 14 years of age), but in the fall of 2012, a reform shifted the introduction of grades to sixth grade (around age 12).
By comparing sociodemographic and clinical data on 524,093 children in Sweden in grades 5 through 9 before and after the reform, investigators found that girls exposed to earlier grading were more likely to be diagnosed with internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety, by the end of compulsory school—especially female students with low to moderate academic achievement.
Evidence also suggested that both girls and boys exposed to earlier grading face an increased risk of being diagnosed with alcohol‐related disorders.
“Like many countries, Sweden has moved toward more testing and tighter grading, repeatedly revising its assessment system,” said corresponding author Anna Linder, PhD, of Lund University, in Sweden. “Our results show that these changes can have detrimental effects on children's mental health. Grades aren’t inherently harmful, but their design should carefully consider that children vary in when—and how—they can turn feedback into healthy growth.”
URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.4982
Additional Information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.
About the Journal
Health Economics is an international health policy journal publishing articles on all aspects of global health economics. We welcome theoretical contributions, empirical studies, and analyses of health policy from the economic perspective. With a wide scope, Health Economics welcomes contributions on the valuation, determinants and definition of health, health care supply and demand, planning and market mechanisms, treatment micro-economics, and health care system performance.
About Wiley
Wiley is one of the world’s largest publishers and a trusted leader in research and learning. Our industry-leading content, services, platforms, and knowledge networks are tailored to meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners, including researchers, students, instructors, professionals, institutions, and corporations. We empower knowledge-seekers to transform today’s biggest obstacles into tomorrow’s brightest opportunities. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.
END
Does grading students at earlier ages increase the risk of mental disorders in adolescents?
2025-07-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New artificial intelligence–based test detects early signs of osteoporosis from X-ray images
2025-07-09
Investigators have developed an artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic system that can estimate bone mineral density in both the lumbar spine and the femur of the upper leg, based on X-ray images. The advance is described in a study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.
A total of 1,454 X-ray images were analyzed using the scientists’ system. Performance rates for the lumbar and femur of patients with bone density loss, or osteopenia, were 86.4% and 84.1%, respectively, in terms of sensitivity. The respective specificities were 80.4% and 76.3%. (Sensitivity reflected the ability of the test to correctly identify people with ...
Can eating a healthy plant-based diet help protect against inflammatory bowel disease?
2025-07-09
A large prospective study published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research reveals that a healthy plant-based diet is linked with a reduced risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
For the study, 143,434 individuals in the UK reported on their dietary intake. During an average follow-up of 14.5 years, 1,117 participants developed inflammatory bowel disease—795 cases of ulcerative colitis and 322 cases of Crohn’s disease.
A healthy plant-based diet was associated with an 8% lower risk of ulcerative colitis, and a 14% lower risk of Crohn’s disease. An unhealthy plant-based diet was associated with a 15% higher risk of Crohn’s ...
Do local voting rights affect migrants’ participation in protests?
2025-07-09
In research published in Social Science Quarterly, the study’s investigator expected that migrants living in cities where local voting rights are extended to non-citizens would be more likely to engage in protests compared with those in restrictive contexts. However, the findings revealed the opposite: migrant protests seem to flourish not where rights are granted, but where they are denied.
In an assessment of migrant participation in protests across 4 major European cities with substantial migrant populations (Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, and Amsterdam), the results showed that perceived discrimination increased protest likelihood.
Protests were also more common in cities with favorable ...
Mysterious ‘Dark Dwarfs’ may be hiding at the heart of the Milky Way
2025-07-09
A new kind of cosmic object could help solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter.
Particle Astrophysicists have proposed the existence of a strange new type of star-like object, called a ‘dark dwarf’, which may be quietly glowing in the centre of our galaxy.
Far from being dark in appearance, these unusual objects are powered by dark matter (the invisible substance thought to make up about a quarter of the universe).
The discovery comes from a UK-US research team and the full research findings has been published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP).
Using theoretical models, ...
Real-world data shows teclistamab can benefit many multiple myeloma patients who would have been ineligible for pivotal trial
2025-07-09
Bottom line: Teclistamab-cqyv (Tecvayli) led to clinically meaningful responses in patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma who would have been ineligible for the MajesTEC-1 trial, and identified a novel factor independently associated with outcomes.
Journal in Which the Study was Published: Blood Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Author: Beatrice M. Razzo, MD
Background: Teclistamab-cqyv is a T-cell-engaging bispecific antibody that targets multiple myeloma cells via the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) receptor. It received accelerated approval in 2022 for patients treated with four or more lines ...
Scientists reveal how a key inflammatory molecule triggers esophageal muscle contraction
2025-07-09
A research group led by Dr. Keisuke Obara, Dr. Kento Yoshioka, and Professor Yoshio Tanaka from the Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, has uncovered important details about how platelet-activating factor (PAF)—a powerful molecule involved in inflammation and allergic reactions—triggers contractions in the smooth muscles of the esophagus. Their findings could pave the way for new treatments targeting gastrointestinal symptoms associated with allergies, asthma, and anaphylaxis.
What is PAF?
PAF (platelet-activating factor) is a bioactive lipid molecule produced by various cells in the body, including immune ...
Duration of heat waves accelerating faster than global warming
2025-07-09
Key takeaways
Each fraction of a degree of warming will have a bigger impact than the last on lengthening heat waves, with the most extreme heat waves lengthening the most.
Tropical regions will see larger changes than temperate regions, and summer heat waves will lengthen more than winter warm spells.
Researchers led by UCLA and the Universidad Adolfo Ibañez in Santiago, Chile, developed an equation that has the flexibility to analyze one region or to gain additional broad insight by analyzing multiple regions as a whole.
New research finds that not only will climate change make ...
New mathematical insights into Lagrangian turbulence
2025-07-08
A sneeze. Ocean currents. Smoke. What do these have in common? They’re instances of turbulence: unpredictable, chaotic, uneven fluid flows of fluctuating velocity and pressure. Though ubiquitous in nature, these flows remain somewhat of a mystery, theoretically and computationally.
“Most flows that we encounter in nature are turbulent — it does not matter whether it is the flow outside the airplane that makes us fasten our seatbelts, or the flow in a small stream,” said UC Santa Barbara mathematics professor Björn Birnir. “Turbulence is difficult to understand because the mathematical ...
Clinical trials reveal promising alternatives to high-toxicity tuberculosis drug
2025-07-08
The drugs, sutezolid and delpazolid, have demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity and a notably better safety profile compared to linezolid, with potential to replace this current cornerstone in the treatment of drug-resistant TB. The findings were published on 7 July in two peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, one of the world’s leading journals in the field of infectious disease medicine. Research partners in Europe included Radboud university medical center from the Netherlands and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ...
Artificial solar eclipses in space could shed light on Sun
2025-07-08
Recreating artificial solar eclipses in space could help astronomers decipher the inner workings of our Sun much quicker than if they had to wait for the celestial show on Earth.
The plan, part of a UK-led space mission to be unveiled at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, would involve the use of a mini-satellite and the Moon's shadow to achieve the closest-ever views of the Sun's atmosphere.
The Moon-Enabled Sun Occultation Mission (MESOM) proposes a novel way to study the inner solar corona – the innermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere, which ...