School Tracking and Mental Health

We examine the effect of school tracking age on mental health. We use a quasi-experimental research design, leveraging a comprehensive school reform that was implemented gradually across the Finnish municipalities over the... [ view full abstract ]

We examine the effect of school tracking age on mental health. We use a quasi-experimental research design, leveraging a comprehensive school reform that was implemented gradually across the Finnish municipalities over the period 1972-1977. We study whether comprehensive schooling affects mental health differently than early tracking. Using exceptionally rich longitudinal administrative registers, we find that the reform worsened severe mental health outcomes, but only for some subgroups: females from highly-educated families, and males from low-educated families. We propose an explanation for these results based on peer effects for the affected females and on discouragement for the affected males.