London – Getting good grades and going
to university makes us no happier than failing exams and dropping out of
school, a study claims.
Even the researchers who conducted
study admitted the results were surprising, given that previous research has
found the opposite.
Until now, it was accepted there was a
clear link between level of education and mental health problems.
Poor education has traditionally been
associated with a lower income, living in less desirable areas and problems
such as crime, drinking and drug taking.
Yet a good education was found to do
little to improve levels of happiness – or ‘high mental wellbeing’, as the
study called it.
The researchers say this is because
many people who didn’t do well at school still have a good work ethic – or are
in communities with a good support structure. Having others around them can
help them cope better with any problems they face, the study found.
And high mental wellbeing comes not
from having fewer problems - but being able to deal better with any problems
that one does have. For those who get good grades, it can mean a better job and
more income but this in itself does not necessarily equip them any better to
deal with personal issues that arise.
The team, from Warwick’s Medical School
team examined the levels of high and low mental health from government health
surveys conducted on 17,000 UK adults in 2010 and 2011.
They then matched them to factors like
educational achievement and income, which are known factors in mental health
problems.
They study found that among any given
level of educational attainment, the odds of poor mental wellbeing were the
same.
Lead study author Professor Sarah
Stewart-Brown said: ‘These findings are quite controversial because we expected
to find the socioeconomic factors that are associated with mental illness would
also be correlated with mental wellbeing.
‘So if low educational attainment was
strongly associated with mental illness, high educational attainment would be
strongly connected to mental well-being. But that is not the case.’
