Lunch Hour Lecture | Adolescent mental health: The role of academic pressure

About the lecture: Most cases of mental disorders worldwide start in adolescence, and rates of mental health problems are rising among adolescents. The important question is: What can we do to prevent the onset of mental health problems in adolescence? In this talk, Dr Marie Mueller will explore a promising but understudied factor for prevention: academic pressure. Adolescents cite academic pressure as one of the main factors influencing their mental health, but the evidence for this is limited. Can we reduce academic pressure in adolescents, and could this, in turn, reduce mental health problems? In this talk, Marie Mueller will define the construct of academic pressure, summarise the existing evidence for an association with mental health, and discuss open questions and challenges. About the Speaker Marie Mueller, Research Fellow in Psychiatric Epidemiology at UCL Dr Marie Mueller is a Research Fellow in Psychiatric Epidemiology at the Division of Psychiatry at UCL. She has a background in psychology (BSc) and cognitive neuroscience (MRes). In 2023, she completed her PhD in environmental psychology, in which she investigated the association between exposure to greenspace and children's and adolescents' mental health and well-being. In her current work, she studies the association between academic pressure and adolescent mental health (specifically depression, anxiety, and self-harm) in the UK and other countries (e.g., Sweden and Japan).