Understanding Recent Shifts in the Dynamics between Mental Health and Absenteeism for Students in Tennessee

• In Event: Absenteeism and School Belonging: Causes and Solutions

Abstract

Research shows that students with mental health needs - including anxiety, depression, teen risky behavior and substance use disorders - are more likely to be chronically absent. To what extent, if at all, has the recent increase in children’s mental health needs shifted the relationship between absenteeism and student mental health? This paper investigates the changing relationship between absenteeism and mental health needs among students in Tennessee. Using descriptive statistics and ordinary least squares regressions with linear probability models, I first describe the prevalence of mental health disorders and the association between these conditions and chronic absenteeism among low-income, school-aged children in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, which I consider the baseline years prior to widespread schooling disruptions. I next investigate how these associations changed after schools re-opened in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. I further investigate how these relationships vary across demographic subgroups. To answer these questions, I draw on a linked health and education dataset that encompasses all children in Tennessee with a Medicaid record to better understand the mental health profiles of chronically absent children. This study is among the first to use state-wide medical records linked to educational records to investigate the correlates of absenteeism, and one of the first to investigate whether the relationship between mental health diagnoses and absenteeism has changed since the pandemic.

I find a large rise in the share of students with mental health diagnoses. In the baseline years, students with a diagnosis were nearly twice as likely to be chronically absent than student without such a diagnosis. After schooling disruptions in 2020 and 2021, this gap narrows, largely because of a steep rise in chronic absenteeism among undiagnosed students. However, using student fixed effects, I show that students experience an increased likelihood of being chronically absent when receiving a new mental health diagnosis after 2021, compared to before 2020. This study contributes to a growing literature indicating a shifting dynamics between student mental health and attendance and underscores the importance of access to mental health care and positive educational experiences.

Author

• Liliane Nienstedt, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author