Children of parents with low socioeconomic status (SES) do less well in school and are at risk of drop-out, low education, unemployment, and social exclusion. Low SES is strongly related to mental disorders, and both low SES and mental disorders run in families. The close relationship between SES and mental health signals that mental health could be a key to understand reproduction of social differences and mobility. In this project, we study school performance, an early indicator of later SES, as it develops during childhood and adolescence in relation to mental health.

The project will study:

• The extent to which parental education, income, employment and mental health have causal influences on children's and adolescents' school performance and mental health versus the extent to which associations are attributable to shared genetic and environmental factors.
• The extent to which intergenerational associations between parents' socioeconomic indicators and child school performance are mediated by the parents' or the children's mental health.
• Consequences of assortative mating on social differences and mental health in the next generation.

The project is led by Fartein Ask Torvik at the Centre for Fertility and Health and involves many national and international partners.

The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway through the VAM work programme on Welfare, Working Life and Migration.