Page 32 - IJPS-8-1

International Journal of
Population Studies School dropouts and mental health among Indian adolescents

aged between 13 and 17 years need active interventions upper secondary level, which means one in five students
(Gururaj, Varghese, Benegal, et al., 2016). The burden have a higher risk of facing unemployment, morbidity,
of mental health problems in India is 2443 disability- mortality, and poverty compared with their cohorts who
adjusted life years (DALYs) per 10,000 population complete their education. The State of Bihar of India,
and the age-adjusted suicide rate is 21.1 per 10,000 which had a literacy rate of 61.8% (overall), 71.2% for
population (Prakash, 2021). According to the National men, and 51.5% for women, according to the 2011
Mental Health Survey 2015 – 2016, conducted by the census, was one among the four states which performed
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, poorly in school dropouts. The other three states are
9.8 million teenagers in the age-group 13 – 17 years Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
suffer depression and other mental health issues (Roy, Another vital life event is a marriage that plays a key
Bharati, and Chakravarty, 2019). Adolescence is a time role in the transition to adulthood that affects the lives of
of change and transition: Changes to hormones and to young people. Marriage is widely recognized as a benefit
the body, changes in the social environment, and changes
to the brain and the mind, all occur in this transition for mental health due to good social support. However,
phase of life (Blakemore, 2019). Post-traumatic disorder, the apparent benefit may vary across the lifetime of
exposure to violence, and a combination of genetic an individual. The timing of an event may be more
and environmental influences at an early age lead to consequential than its occurrence (Elder, 1995); this may
higher rates of adult mental health problems, including be especially true for marriage where it is culturally agreed
personality disorders, major depression, substance use, that there is an appropriate time to do it. Early or child
and suicidal behavior (Chauhan, Srivastava, Kumar, et marriage is a strong social custom particularly for girls in
al., 2021; Kumar, Srivastava, Mishra, et al., 2020; Patel, South Asian countries, including India where the mean age
Saggurti, Pachauri, et al., 2015). Many mental health of marriage for girls married below age 18 was 16.5 years
problems emerge in mid-to-late-adolescence. According in 2011 (ORG and CCI, 2015). However, there has been an
to a large-scale meta-analysis, worldwide, the onset of the improvement in recent years in child marriage where the
first mental problem occurs before age 14 in one-third of percentage of women married before age 18 has reduced
individuals; and by age 18 half of them get affected, and from 27% in 2015–2016 to 23% in 2019–2021 (IIPS
before age 25, it is seen in nearly 63% population (Solmi, and ICF, 2020). However, still with early marriage, the
Radua, Olivola, et al., 2021). transition from childhood into adulthood is lost for many
young women, particularly in states like Bihar. Although
School is a place where a child spends most of early marriage affects both boys and girls, this transition
their time and it is a known fact that during this time, in India, where mostly women leave their parental house,
cognitive, social, and emotional skill development comes with the change in status and position within the
takes place. According to the chief-executive officer household, and a onset of early childbearing. Therefore,
of child rights and you, the dropout rate of girls rises early school dropouts, early marriage, early childbearing
significantly after secondary education. One in every affect psychological well-being; however, these associations
five girls enrolled drops out after class eighth (Deb, over the early life course have not been examined in an
Chatterjee, and Walsh, 2020). Stress to perform well Indian setting. Family characteristics such as early divorce,
in academics, household factors, early marriages parental education, and occupation also predict early
and pregnancies, cultural factors, substance use, low dropouts and also predict childhood psychiatric disorders
self-esteem, and feeling of isolation from the school (Gilman, Kawachi, Fitzmaurice, et al., 2002; Le Strat,
environment are some of the core reasons for early Dubertret, and Le Foll, 2011; Lorant, Deliège, Eaton, et
dropouts (Dangal, 2006; Kishore and Shaji, 2012; al., 2003; Muntaner, Eaton, Diala, et al., 1998; Muntaner,
Shahidul and Karim, 2015). Young women cannot enjoy Eaton, Miech, et al., 2004).
their day-to-day life normally because they have high
discipline levels and more remarkable persistence to Mental health remains a neglected issue in India.
achieve their goals and find success (Hjorth, Bilgrav, The data constraint and limited understanding of the
Frandsen, et al., 2016). A study in India shows that for causal effects of mental illness and life cycle events such
women, merely participating in secondary education as school dropouts, marriage, and childbearing do not
may lead to life-long autonomy and participation in allow for interventions to tackle this problem. This study
decision-making (Marphatia, Reid, and Yajnik, 2019). attempts to understand the various life-course events
Among the member countries of Organization for such as educational attainment or dropout, marriage, and
Economic Co-operation and Development, around 20% childbearing at early ages on reported mental health status
of young people end their education before reaching the of women in early adulthood.

Volume 8 Issue 1 (2022) 26 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i1.1280