Does family income moderate the relationship between mental health and academic achievement?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that students with good mental health tend to perform better than students with poor mental health on measures of academic achievement. Evidence also suggests that there is an achievement gap between children from high- and low-income families. However, there is little evidence on how family income might moderate the relationship between mental health and academic achievement. I use High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), and examine whether family income moderates the relationship between mental health and academic achievement. I find that there is no moderating effect of family income on the relationship between mental health and academic achievement.