Disadvantaged homes, more teen struggles. The gap looked bigger for 2000s kids.

Cohort study. 23,379 people. childhood socioeconomic position measured between birth and age 11 (mostly 10-11); mental health rated by parents at age 16 (BCS70, ALSPAC) or 17 (MCS); cohorts born 1970, 1991-92 and 2000-02.

People were watched for years. Nobody was told what to do. A clue, not proof.

Who: UK teens from three birth cohorts: 1970 British Cohort Study (England, Scotland, Wales; n = 8,436), Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (born 1991-92 in the Avon area, not nationally representative, over-represents affluent and white households; n = 6,395), Millennium Cohort Study (born 2000-02, all four UK nations, oversampled disadvantaged areas and ethnic minorities; n = 8,548)

• Born 1970: symptomshigherall three types
• Born 2000-02: symptomshighergap looked bigger
• Born 1991-92 (Avon)mixedbehaviour only

More to know, from our read of the paper:

• Observational: linked, not proven. The study did not examine causal pathways (e.g. parental mental health, parenting) that are concentrated in disadvantaged groups
• The headline 'stronger link in the 2000s cohort' is an eyeball comparison of coefficients across separate models; the authors say a direct test was not possible (different weights/strata) and results 'should be interpreted cautiously'. Say 'looked bigger', never 'grew' or 'doubled'
• Symptoms are parent-reported (Rutter scale in 1970 cohort, SDQ in the others), only 11 harmonised items; parents' own mental health and SES can colour their ratings; parent-reported SDQ scores relate more strongly to SES than child-reported ones
• 'Disadvantage' = the 'Prestige-Resource Disadvantaged' latent class (high probability of manual social class, low income, renting, lower parental education, no car, damp), which differs in size and make-up by cohort (15.6%, 20.0%, 10.0%)
• ALSPAC (Avon, 1991-92) is regional and not nationally representative; in it only behaviour was significant, and only just (beta .176, 95% CI .000-.353, p = .050); internalising p = .070, ADHD p = .060

Researchers compared three groups of UK teens: born in 1970 (8,436), in 1991-92 in the Avon area (6,395) and in 2000-02 (8,548). Parents rated their teen's low mood and worry, behaviour and attention at age 16 or 17, using questions matched across generations. In the 1970 and 2000s groups, teens from the most disadvantaged homes (often low income, renting, no car) had more of all three kinds of problems, and the gap looked bigger in the 2000s group, though the authors could not test that directly. In the Avon group, only behaviour problems were clearly higher. Observational and parent-reported: linked, not proven.

We read the abstract and the full text of this paper and checked every number on this page against it (16 facts, checked on 2026-10-29). The study design is named above. Cohort and other observational studies are described as linked, not proven. Found an error? Email theis@onestudyaday.com.