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Youngest in Class Face Stress Challenges
Excerpt
By Jeremy Lovell, Reuters Health
The youngest children in any school
year face more stress than their older peers and are at greater
risk of developing mental illness, scientists have found.
A survey of more than 10,000 children
in Britain between the ages of five and 15 showed that regardless
of when their school year began, if they were the youngest in
the class they faced greater stress.
"It is not a huge stress like family
problems, trauma or being in an accident. But it is a moderate
stress and, given that it applies to a lot of kids, it is a serious
health threat," research leader Robert Goodman told Reuters.
Goodman and his team at the Department
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at King's College London said
the study stripped away seasonal factors that can cause stress,
clearly exposing the school year effect.
In England and Wales the oldest
children in the school year are born in September, with the youngest
in August -- the middle of the northern hemisphere summer.
By contrast in Scotland the oldest
are born in March and the youngest in February -- the start of
spring.
But there were no significant differences
in the findings between the different school years.
"They are sufficiently far apart
to strip away any seasonal effects, so we have been able to rule
that out," Goodman said.
The study, published in the British
Medical Journal, involved questions to children, parents and teachers
covering all aspects from their emotions to social behavior and
peer relations.
It found a greater incidence of
mental health problems among the school year youngsters than among
their older colleagues.
"We found that this was true all
the way through the age range in our study," Goodman said. "Other
studies have also found that the younger in the school class tend
to have lower levels of university entrance."
He said the study showed the need
for greater flexibility among schools and policy makers on cut-off
dates for school year entry -- perhaps allowing an extra year
of pre-school for a child who would otherwise be the class fledgling.
Reference
Source 89
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