Research Project: Analyzing Mental Health's Impact on K-12 Education

This research project investigates the significant impact of mental health on the educational experiences of K-12 students. The report begins by establishing the importance of student psychological well-being, particularly within the K-12 system. It explores how factors such as assessment, grading, and the transition to college can influence mental health. The research delves into the methodology used to analyze the effects of various factors on students' psychological health and its influence on their education. Key findings highlight the prevalence of mental health disorders, including ADHD, anxiety, and depression, and their detrimental effects on academic achievement. The study examines the impact of domestic violence, social isolation, school environment, and cyberbullying. The report emphasizes the importance of timely interventions, parental involvement, and supportive school climates to mitigate mental health challenges and promote student success. The research concludes by underscoring the need for comprehensive mental health care and systematic study of mental health issues in students.

Running head: RESEARCH PROJECT
RESEARCH PROJECT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1RESEARCH PROJECT
Background and Context
It has been a matter of absolute significance as to how the aspect of psychological
health of students impact their ability to obtain education effectively. The K – 12 system is
considered to be the gateway to acquiring a quality lifestyle and future higher education in
most places and, therefore, developing a strong base becomes crucial for the students
(National Research Council, 2012). In that aspect, the knowledge and practical skills
regarding the subject matter of education coincides with the aspect of assessment and
grading, creating a turmoil where inter-curricular differences sometimes may force students
to choose between a better education and better grades (Sagatun et al., 2014). It has also been
observed in numerous studies and research that the sudden shift between the end of school
education and the beginning of college can significantly impact as well as be impacted by the
mental health condition of the concerned student (Aseltine & Gore, 1993). Apart from this,
there are other external factors which affect education as well. This research is concerned
with providing an analytical understanding of the effect of such factors on the psychological
health of students in the K-12 system and how their sound mental health impacts the quality
of education.
Positionality
In recent times, the education systems which follow the K-12 pattern have come into
question due to the poor performance of students and other related problems, such as
dropping out and getting into problems with the law. There has been evidence in research that
students feel left out or unable to keep up with the classes in school, and therefore, lose
interest in attending all together (Reglin, 1998). Another recent issue that has come to
attention is the rising number of mass shootings taking place in public schools, which have
carried forward by students themselves and not terrorists, even though the relationship

2RESEARCH PROJECT
between gun violence and mental helath issues share a more complex relationship than just
causal (Metzl & MacLeish, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that mental health issues
regarding the education system and the atmosphere should be researched upon more in order
to get a deeper understanding of the situation.
Personally, the rationale behind choosing this topic is because, from the viewpoint of
a student/researcher, the fact that the issues of mental health faced by students that lead to a
certain disturbing and unfavourable outcome, presents an opportunity not only to study the
matter in detail but also to look for opportunities for positive intervention. From a
professional standpoint, I understand that behavioural aspects of individuals vastly differ
from each other and the nuances in stimuli perceived can also significantly impact the
characteristic behavioural traits. Thus this literature review is expected to provide me with in
depth details regarding the various immediate as well as contextually similar research and
studies that have been done on the aspect of mental health of students. From a more narrowed
down perspective, the mental health related aspects and problems of students in a K-12 to
college setting will be attempted to be understood in detail.
Methodology
This literature review is developed after critically interpreting a series of studies and
research in the field of mental health in students. From a varied series of viewpoints, the
minute theoretical underpinnings of a generalised aspect of mental health in students will be
studied and analysed.
Keywords
Mental health, Psychology, Students, K – 12, Violence, Adolescents, Parent involvement

3RESEARCH PROJECT
Inclusion criteria
The primary resources that are used in these resources pertain to the core theoretical
development of aspects of mental health in students. The supporting sources are concerned
with certain very specific outcomes that are entailed with a troubled mental state in students
as well as certain cause and action factors that entail a troubled mentality in students.
Highlights of the sources are selected as the emotional and behavioural disorders in K-12 and
college students, student achievements in school, parental involvement, global issues like
cyber bullying and gun violence in schools that highlight the field of mental illness in a
different perspective altogether. Sources also include reports and case studies from
established organisations like National Institute of Mental health (NIMH) and the likes. The
sources are not delimited by time, meaning that recent sources are given equal importance as
studies that are slightly older. Most of the older studies will be used as a theoretical base
whereas the recent studies will be referred to for evidential support.
Search results
For the resources, Google scholar was used with the relevant keywords as provided
above. Afterwards, the relevant papers based on the topic criteria as well as publication year
were selected.
About ten to twelve sources have been identified as main sources for the review. The
most frequent results involved articles and papers concerning cyber - bullying and how it
relates to psychological health in adolescents.
The rationale behind selecting the resources was to identify and highlight how mental
health in adolescents in education affect as well as are affected by various intrinsic and
extrinsic factors. Reviewing those papers would provide valuable insight into how effects of
factors like interpersonal communication, parental involvement as well as assessment and

4RESEARCH PROJECT
grades affect the mental wellbeing of students while also detailing how an unstable mental
state can lead to unwanted social, emotional and cognitive outcomes.
Literature Review
The National Association of Secondary School principals (NASSP, 2019) highlights
that teen suicide along with other mental health related school crises are significant indicators
that, out of all possible factors, the school climate, safety and learning along with provision of
school leaders with the best practices for dealing with the aforementioned issues are critical
consideration points. In fact the National Institute of Mental health has also indicated that at
least one out of every five children and adolescents are susceptible to facing significant
mental health conditions during their schooling (NIMH, 2017). There are a range of mental
health disorders that can affect students, ranging from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD) and autism in the earlier stages to severe depression, anxiety and
schizophrenia in the later stages (Kitzrow, 2003). These disorders are identified as the
primary barriers to a quality and effective education. Nelson et al. (2004) attempted a cross
sectional study with 155 K-12 students in a public school setting where they tried to highlight
the impacts of Emotional and Behavioural Disorders on students’ academic achievements.
The results indicated that with respect of Emotional and Behavioural disorders, the students
who were identified as having them, have experienced great deficiency in academic
achievements across all subjects and particularly in mathematics across all age, whereas
gender played no significant role (Nelson et al., 2004). This helps us identify two very
important aspects; firstly, mental illness is not gender dependent and in students can be
viewed to have crucial detrimental effects on their performance in class. Secondly, emotional

5RESEARCH PROJECT
and behavioural disorders are simply two factors from a vast array of disorders that students
can face and therefore there must be further and more intensive studies to identify and help
the students with disorders that determine more than just academic performance issues.
Another key aspect of studying mental health issues in students is to identify the
specific factors that are contributors to a distresses mental state. Black et al. (2010) have
identified in their study that domestic violence significantly impacts the way the mental
health of a student coming from that particular house will be shaped. The study was focused
on the perspectives of students graduating from Master in Social Work degree and indicated
that despite the crucial connotations associated with domestic violence being a significant
influencer of students’ mental health, the amount of awareness that is required to be had is
simply not present (Black et al., 2010). Building on the aspect of awareness and intervention,
Shoshani and Steinmetz (2014) highlight that proper and timely intervention can significantly
help the students with various mental health issues that they are facing, however that also
entails that the proper intervention service and the schemes should be properly implemented
in school and preferably also in a personal and home based setting (Shoshani & Steinmetz,
2014). There has also been evidence in research done by Hall-Lande et al. (2007) that
revealed that social isolation is associated with an increased risk of depression and related
symptoms, suicide ideation and attempts, and a lower self esteem. This has been associated
with low levels of close friendship and support. On the other hand, adolescents who reported
that they felt supported by school staff, peers, and family, displayed better and more effective
coping mechanisms and communicated more positively about their future attitudes and
intentions (Hall-Lande et al., 2007)
Key influencers of mental health problems in a school setting has also been identified
as the school environment and treatment of students. In that aspect, we can look at three
distinct types of in-school treatment, student-teacher treatment, student-student treatment and

6RESEARCH PROJECT
student-environment treatment. Sagatun et al (2014) highlights in their study that the impacts
of low grades in schools and dropouts have significant detrimental effects on the mental
health of the students. They reported that because of not achieving desired grades and
outcomes, not only the education, but also the overall mental health of the students in the 10th
grade were harmed, where they were reported to having resorted to anti social activities like
bullying, vandalism, shoplifting and societal nuisances as well as personally degrading
activities like smoking, drinking and getting addicted to drugs. Similarly Weare (2013) in her
book has highlighted that social and emotional learning can positively influence the academic
achievements. Similarly familial relationships, community closeness as well as teacher
student interaction and set curricula also correlate positively with academic achievements
(Weare, 2013). In support of this idea, Wang and Sheikh-Khalil (2014) has also stated that
parental involvement has been proven to be effective in improving academic and emotional
functioning in adolescents. Such involvement, through emotional and behavioural
engagement, has shown to predict academic success as well as mental health, both directly
and indirectly. To be precise, the study showed that parental involvement was most effective
in the form of academic socialization and had the most negative relation with depression.
This means that parents who conveyed to their children the importance and value of
education, motivated them more to engage in their academic work behaviourally and
emotionally, which automatically led to higher achievements. There has also been found a
strong positive association between an intellectually supportive home environment and
achievement levels (Wang & Sheikh‐Khalil, 2014).
Apart from the familial and academic influences, the aspect of digital communication
today which has opened up a lot of prospects for personal development, has also identified
itself with the fact that cyber - bullying and online harassment has also significantly
contributed to (and still continues to) mental health issues in students. Chang et al. (2013) and

7RESEARCH PROJECT
Schneider et al. (2012), both in their studies have highlighted that increased cases of cyber -
bullying has been reported to increase the level of depression, anxiety and other personality
disorders in students. Similar to the likes of physical bullying, cyber victimisation has also
enhanced the effects of pre-existing mental disorders in students while also triggering the
development of more disorders in those who were stable before (Kowalski & Limber, 2013)
Conclusion
The growing concerns regarding mental health in all-inclusive groups of people have
made it a mandate that proper care and systematic study of mental health related problems in
the concerned groups are undertaken. Moreover, identifying that all individuals in a same
setting will not display the same effects of psychological issues, should also be made a
prerequisite for the study. Students belong to an age group where mental health should kept
under consideration as the most significant underlying factor for educational and personality
development, given that most of student life is cognitively challenging.
Keeping that in mind, it becomes crucial that all aspects of education identifies mental
health in their institutional system and curriculum as something to be deeply analysed and
interpreted, not on a generalized scale but in a more personalised setting. This develops a
proper system of intervention that is rigid enough to attend to the needs of all the students
victimized by a troubled mental state, while at the same time, flexible enough to tend to the
requirement of all.
Identification of the various symptoms of a mental health disorder will help in
approaching the process of intervention in a safe and secure manner. Stable mental health is a
basic right for every individual, especially students, who are in the process of growing up
while acquiring knowledge that will help them in their future. This research is directed
towards that objective in particular.

8RESEARCH PROJECT
References
Aseltine, Jr, R. H., & Gore, S. (1993). Mental health and social adaptation following the
transition from high school. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 3(3), 247-270.
Black, B. M., Weisz, A. N., & Bennett, L. W. (2010). Graduating social work students’
perspectives on domestic violence. Affilia, 25(2), 173-184.
Chang, F. C., Lee, C. M., Chiu, C. H., Hsi, W. Y., Huang, T. F., & Pan, Y. C. (2013).
Relationships among cyber - bullying, school bullying, and mental health in
Taiwanese adolescents. Journal of school health, 83(6), 454-462.
Hall-Lande, J. A., Eisenberg, M. E., Christenson, S. L., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2007).
Social isolation, psychological health, and protective factors in adolescence.
Adolescence, 42(166).
Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The mental health needs of today's college students: Challenges and
recommendations. NASPA journal, 41(1), 167-181.
Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2013). Psychological, physical, and academic correlates of
cyber - bullying and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(1), S13-
S20.
Mental Health in Middle Level and High Schools. (2019). Retrieved 28 August 2019, from
https://www.nassp.org/policy-advocacy-center/nassp-position-statements/promoting-
mental-health-in-middle-level-and-high-schools/
Metzl, J. M., & MacLeish, K. T. (2015). Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of
American firearms. American journal of public health, 105(2), 240-249.
National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices,
crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. National Academies Press.

9RESEARCH PROJECT
National Institute of Mental Health, (2017). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mental Illness. Retrieved from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-
illness.html.
Nelson, J. R., Benner, G. J., Lane, K., & Smith, B. W. (2004). Academic achievement of K-
12 students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Exceptional children, 71(1), 59-
73.
Reglin, G. (1998). Mentoring students at risk: An underutilized alternative education strategy
for K–12 teachers. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Sagatun, Å., Heyerdahl, S., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Lien, L. (2014). Mental health problems in
the 10 th grade and non-completion of upper secondary school: the mediating role of
grades in a population-based longitudinal study. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 16.
Schneider, S. K., O'donnell, L., Stueve, A., & Coulter, R. W. (2012). Cyber - bullying, school
bullying, and psychological distress: A regional census of high school students.
American journal of public health, 102(1), 171-177.
Shoshani, A., & Steinmetz, S. (2014). Positive psychology at school: A school-based
intervention to promote adolescents’ mental health and well-being. Journal of
Happiness Studies, 15(6), 1289-1311.
Wang, M. T., & Sheikh‐Khalil, S. (2014). Does parental involvement matter for student
achievement and mental health in high school?. Child development, 85(2), 610-625.
Weare, K. (2013). Promoting mental, emotional and social health: A whole school approach.
Routledge.