We use a well-known method (proposed by Graetz (1991)) to decompose this measure of “poor mental health” into its component parts. These are “anxiety and depression” – related to excessive worrying and difficulty controlling this worrying; “anhedonia and social dysfunction” – related to reduced interest or pleasure in usual activities; and “loss of confidence or self-esteem” . We find that “loss of confidence or self-esteem” drives the association between poor mental health and exam results for boys. For girls this factor is also important but the association is stronger for “anhedonia and social dysfunction” . The factor which captures worrying does not seem to be relevant when other controls are.
