A new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) discovered that a child’s ‘young relative age’ – their age in comparison to their older peers – puts them at a long-term disadvantage.
Researchers are now advocating for increased flexibility in terms of school entry age.
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The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London examined data from 300,000 individuals in the Swedish National Registers in collaboration with the Karolinska Institute and Orebro University.
The researchers discovered that the youngest members of a class were more likely to struggle with low educational achievement, substance abuse disorders, and depression later in life. However, it appeared as though younger children with ADHD were at a lower risk of depression.
Previous research has indicated that immaturity in comparison to peers may contribute to an increased risk of being diagnosed with ADHD. Typically, a comparison is made to determine whether a child exhibits significantly more ADHD symptoms than other children in their year group, but this does not always account for the potentially significant age gap between the youngest and oldest members of an age group.
Senior author Professor Jonna Kuntsi from King’s IoPPN pointed out:
“The difference between the youngest and oldest member of a class can be up to 11 months. In the early stages of childhood, this is a significant difference in terms of maturity, behaviour and cognitive abilities.”
“Behavioural characteristics that are normal in younger children are in some cases being compared to much older individuals, and we can see from the data that there are very real and long-term consequences to being the youngest in a class year.”
The researchers note that the adverse effects of young relative age are much less prevalent in countries such as Denmark, possibly due to the country’s more flexible approach to school enrollment. Young children who are not yet ready for school have the option of starting later, putting them at a lower risk of experiencing the negative consequences seen in other countries. According to the researchers, this is a practice that could be replicated elsewhere.
Professor Kuntsi has previously advocated for a greater emphasis on students’ relative ages when it comes to difficulties with reading, spelling, or arithmetic skills that are not due to a lack of cognitive ability. According to Professor Kuntsi, a recent large register study in Finland discovered that the relative age effect also exists for specific learning disorders, which is likely due to the same referral bias as for ADHD assessment.
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She emphasises the importance of conducting a cross-country review of the approaches that best ensure children’s future outcomes are completely independent of their relative age at the start of school:
“Being the youngest child in a classroom can have complex developmental consequences, and can place them at a disadvantage at the earliest stages of their academic life. If we are to overcome this, there needs to be a greater understanding from decision makers, teachers, and clinicians so that all children have an equal chance to succeed later in life.”
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