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Health Hazards of Homework

March 18, 2014 | Julie Greicius Pediatrics .

A new study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education and colleagues found that students in high-performing schools who did excessive hours of homework “experienced greater behavioral engagement in school but also more academic stress, physical health problems, and lack of balance in their lives.”

Those health problems ranged from stress, headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems, to psycho-social effects like dropping activities, not seeing friends or family, and not pursuing hobbies they enjoy.

In the Stanford Report story about the research, Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of the  study published in the  Journal of Experimental Education , says, “Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good.”

The study was based on survey data from a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in California communities in which median household income exceeded $90,000. Of the students surveyed, homework volume averaged about 3.1 hours each night.

“It is time to re-evaluate how the school environment is preparing our high school student for today’s workplace,” says Neville Golden, MD , chief of adolescent medicine at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and a professor at the School of Medicine. “This landmark study shows that excessive homework is counterproductive, leading to sleep deprivation, school stress and other health problems. Parents can best support their children in these demanding academic environments by advocating for them through direct communication with teachers and school administrators about homework load.”

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Homework Struggles May Not Be a Behavior Problem

Exploring some options to understand and help..

Posted August 2, 2022 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• Mental health challenges and neurodevelopmental differences directly affect children's ability to do homework.
• Understanding what difficulties are getting in the way—beyond the usual explanation of a behavior problem—is key.
• Sleep and mental health needs can take priority over homework completion.

Chelsea was in 10th grade the first time I told her directly to stop doing her homework and get some sleep. I had been working with her since she was in middle school, treating her anxiety disorder. She deeply feared disappointing anyone—especially her teachers—and spent hours trying to finish homework perfectly. The more tired and anxious she got, the harder it got for her to finish the assignments.

One night Chelsea called me in despair, feeling hopeless. She was exhausted and couldn’t think straight. She felt like a failure and that she was a burden to everyone because she couldn’t finish her homework.

She was shocked when I told her that my prescription for her was to go to sleep now—not to figure out how to finish her work. I told her to leave her homework incomplete and go to sleep. We briefly discussed how we would figure it out the next day, with her mom and her teachers. At that moment, it clicked for her that it was futile to keep working—because nothing was getting done.

This was an inflection point for her awareness of when she was emotionally over-cooked and when she needed to stop and take a break or get some sleep. We repeated versions of this phone call several times over the course of her high school and college years, but she got much better at being able to do this for herself most of the time.

When Mental Health Symptoms Interfere with Homework

Kids with mental health or neurodevelopmental challenges often struggle mightily with homework. Challenges can come up in every step of the homework process, including, but not limited to:

• Remembering and tracking assignments and materials
• Getting the mental energy/organization to start homework
• Filtering distractions enough to persist with assignments
• Understanding unspoken or implied parts of the homework
• Remembering to bring finished homework to class
• Being in class long enough to know the material
• Tolerating the fear of not knowing or failing
• Not giving up the assignment because of a panic attack
• Tolerating frustration—such as not understanding—without emotional dysregulation
• Being able to ask for help—from a peer or a teacher and not being afraid to reach out

This list is hardly comprehensive. ADHD , autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety , generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression , dysregulation, and a range of other neurodevelopmental and mental health challenges cause numerous learning differences and symptoms that can specifically and frequently interfere with getting homework done.

The Usual Diagnosis for Homework Problems is "Not Trying Hard Enough"

Unfortunately, when kids frequently struggle to meet homework demands, teachers and parents typically default to one explanation of the problem: The child is making a choice not to do their homework. That is the default “diagnosis” in classrooms and living rooms. And once this framework is drawn, the student is often seen as not trying hard enough, disrespectful, manipulative, or just plain lazy.

The fundamental disconnect here is that the diagnosis of homework struggles as a behavioral choice is, in fact, only one explanation, while there are so many other diagnoses and differences that impair children's ability to consistently do their homework. If we are trying to create solutions based on only one understanding of the problem, the solutions will not work. More devastatingly, the wrong solutions can worsen the child’s mental health and their long-term engagement with school and learning.

To be clear, we aren’t talking about children who sometimes struggle with or skip homework—kids who can change and adapt their behaviors and patterns in response to the outcomes of that struggle. For this discussion, we are talking about children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental symptoms and challenges that create chronic difficulties with meeting homework demands.

How Can You Help a Child Who Struggles with Homework?

How can you help your child who is struggling to meet homework demands because of their ADHD, depression, anxiety, OCD , school avoidance, or any other neurodevelopmental or mental health differences? Let’s break this down into two broad areas—things you can do at home, and things you can do in communication with the school.

Helping at Home

The following suggestions for managing school demands at home can feel counterintuitive to parents—because we usually focus on helping our kids to complete their tasks. But mental health needs jump the line ahead of task completion. And starting at home will be key to developing an idea of what needs to change at school.

• Set an end time in the evening after which no more homework will be attempted. Kids need time to decompress and they need sleep—and pushing homework too close to or past bedtime doesn’t serve their educational needs. Even if your child hasn’t been able to approach the homework at all, even if they have avoided and argued the whole evening, it is still important for everyone to have a predictable time to shut down the whole process.
• If there are arguments almost every night about homework, if your child isn’t starting homework or finishing it, reframe it from failure into information. It’s data to put into problem-solving. We need to consider other possible explanations besides “behavioral choice” when trying to understand the problem and create effective solutions. What problems are getting in the way of our child’s meeting homework demands that their peers are meeting most of the time?
• Try not to argue about homework. If you can check your own anxiety and frustration, it can be more productive to ally with your child and be curious with them. Kids usually can’t tell you a clear “why” but maybe they can tell you how they are feeling and what they are thinking. And if your child can’t talk about it or just keeps saying “I don't know,” try not to push. Come back another time. Rushing, forcing, yelling, and threatening will predictably not help kids do homework.

Helping at School

The second area to explore when your neurodiverse child struggles frequently with homework is building communication and connections with school and teachers. Some places to focus on include the following.

• Label your child’s diagnoses and break down specific symptoms for the teachers and school team. Nonjudgmental, but specific language is essential for teachers to understand your child’s struggles. Breaking their challenges down into the problems specific to homework can help with building solutions. As your child gets older, help them identify their difficulties and communicate them to teachers.
• Let teachers and the school team know that your child’s mental health needs—including sleep—take priority over finishing homework. If your child is always struggling to complete homework and get enough sleep, or if completing homework is leading to emotional meltdowns every night, adjusting their homework demands will be more successful than continuing to push them into sleep deprivation or meltdowns.
• Request a child study team evaluation to determine if your child qualifies for services under special education law such as an IEP, or accommodations through section 504—and be sure that homework adjustments are included in any plan. Or if such a plan is already in place, be clear that modification of homework expectations needs to be part of it.

The Long-Term Story

I still work with Chelsea and she recently mentioned how those conversations so many years ago are still part of how she approaches work tasks or other demands that are spiking her anxiety when she finds herself in a vortex of distress. She stops what she is doing and prioritizes reducing her anxiety—whether it’s a break during her day or an ending to the task for the evening. She sees that this is crucial to managing her anxiety in her life and still succeeding at what she is doing.

Task completion at all costs is not a solution for kids with emotional needs. Her story (and the story of many of my patients) make this crystal clear.

Candida Fink, M.D. , is board certified in child/adolescent and general psychiatry. She practices in New York and has co-authored two books— The Ups and Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child and Bipolar Disorder for Dummies.

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Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework

A Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. More than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive, according to the study.

Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

• Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

• Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

• Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

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Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >> 

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia. 

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.  

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school. 

Homework improves student achievement.

• Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012. 
• Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys. 

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

• Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

• Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
• Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

• Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day. 
• Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
• Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
• Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. 

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. 

• Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
• Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat. 

• Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
• Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity. 

• Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
• Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
• Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

• Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

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More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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Opinion | Social-Emotional Learning

If we’re serious about student well-being, we must change the systems students learn in, here are five steps high schools can take to support students' mental health., by tim klein and belle liang     oct 14, 2022.

Shutterstock / SvetaZi

Educators and parents started this school year with bated breath. Last year’s stress led to record levels of teacher burnout and mental health challenges for students.

Even before the pandemic, a mental health crisis among high schoolers loomed. According to a survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019, 37 percent of high school students said they experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness and 19 percent reported suicidality. In response, more than half of all U.S. states mandated that schools have a mental health curriculum or include mental health in their standards .

As mental health professionals and co-authors of a book about the pressure and stress facing high school students, we’ve spent our entire careers supporting students’ mental health. Traditionally, mental health interventions are individualized and they focus on helping students manage and change their behaviors to cope with challenges they’re facing. But while working with schools and colleges across the globe as we conducted research for our book , we realized that most interventions don’t address systemic issues causing mental health problems in the first place.

It’s time we acknowledge that our education systems are directly contributing to the youth mental health crisis. And if we are serious about student well-being, we must change the systems they learn in.

Here are five bold steps that high schools can take to boost mental health.

Limit Homework or Make it Optional

Imagine applying for a job, and the hiring manager informs you that in addition to a full workday in the office, you’ll be assigned three more hours of work every night. Does this sound like a healthy work-life balance? Most adults would consider this expectation ridiculous and unsustainable. Yet, this is the workload most schools place on high school students.

Research shows that excessive homework leads to increased stress, physical health problems and a lack of balance in students' lives. And studies have shown that more than two hours of daily homework can be counterproductive , yet many teachers assign more.

Homework proponents argue that homework improves academic performance. Indeed, a meta-analysis of research on this issue found a correlation between homework and achievement. But correlation isn’t causation. Does homework cause achievement or do high achievers do more homework? While it’s likely that homework completion signals student engagement, which in turn leads to academic achievement, there’s little evidence to suggest that homework itself improves engagement in learning.

Another common argument is that homework helps students develop skills related to problem-solving, time-management and self-direction. But these skills can be explicitly taught during the school day rather than after school.

Limiting homework or moving to an optional homework policy not only supports student well-being, but it can also create a more equitable learning environment. According to the American Psychological Association, students from more affluent families are more likely to have access to resources such as devices, internet, dedicated work space and the support necessary to complete their work successfully—and homework can highlight those inequities .

Whether a school limits homework or makes it optional, it’s critical to remember that more important than the amount of homework assigned, is designing the type of activities that engage students in learning. When students are intrinsically motivated to do their homework, they are more engaged in the work, which in turn is associated with academic achievement.

Cap the Number of APs Students Can Take

Advanced Placement courses give students a taste of college-level work and, in theory, allow them to earn college credits early. Getting good grades on AP exams is associated with higher GPAs in high school and success in college, but the research tends to be correlational rather than causational.

In 2008, a little over 180,000 students took three or more AP exams. By 2018, that number had ballooned to almost 350,000 students .

However, this expansion has come at the expense of student well-being.

Over the years, we’ve heard many students express that they feel pressure to take as many AP classes as possible, which overloads them with work. That’s troubling because studies show that students who take AP classes and exams are twice as likely to report adverse physical and emotional health .

AP courses and exams also raise complex issues of equity. In 2019, two out of three Harvard freshmen reported taking AP Calculus in high school, according to Jeff Selingo, author of “ Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions ,” yet only half of all high schools in the country offer the course. And opportunity gaps exist for advanced coursework such as AP courses and dual enrollment, with inequitable distribution of funding and support impacting which students are enrolling and experiencing success. According to the Center for American Progress, “National data from the Civil Rights Data Collection show that students who are Black, Indigenous, and other non-Black people of color (BIPOC) are not enrolled in AP courses at rates comparable to their white and Asian peers and experience less success when they are—and the analysis for this report finds this to be true even when they attend schools with similar levels of AP course availability.”

Limiting the number of AP courses students take can protect mental health and create a more equitable experience for students.

Eliminate Class Rankings

In a study we conducted about mental health problems among high school girls, we found that a primary driver of stress was their perception of school as a hypercompetitive, zero-sum game where pervasive peer pressure to perform reigns supreme.

Class rankings fuel these cutthroat environments. They send a toxic message to young people: success requires doing better than your peers.

Ranking systems help highly selective colleges decide which students to admit or reject for admission. The purpose of high school is to develop students to their own full potential, rather than causing them to fixate on measuring up to others. Research shows that ranking systems undercut students’ learning and damage social relationships by turning peers into opponents.

Eliminating class rankings sends a powerful message to students that they are more than a number.

Become an Admission Test Objector

COVID-19 ushered in the era of test-optional admissions. De-centering standardized tests in the college application process is unequivocally a good thing. Standardized tests don’t predict student success in college , they only widen the achievement gap between privileged and underprivileged students and damage students' mental health .

Going “test optional” is an excellent first step, but it's not enough.

Even as more colleges have made tests optional, affluent students submit test scores at a higher rate than their lower-income peers and are admitted at higher rates , suggesting that testing still gives them an edge.

High schools must adhere to standardized test mandates, but they don’t have to endorse them. They can become test objectors by publicly proclaiming that these tests hold no inherent value. They can stop teaching to the test and educate parents on why they are doing so. Counseling departments can inform colleges that their school is a test objector so admission teams won’t penalize students.

Of course, students and families will still find ways to wield these tests as a competitive advantage. Over time, the more schools and educators unite to denounce these tests, the less power they will hold over students and families.

Big change starts with small steps.

Stand For What You Value

Critics may argue that such policies might hurt student outcomes. How will colleges evaluate school rigor if we limit AP courses and homework? How will students demonstrate their merits without class rankings and standardized test scores?

The truth is, the best school systems in the world succeed without homework, standardized test scores or an obsession with rigorous courses. And many U.S. schools have found creative and empowering ways to showcase student merit beyond rankings and test scores.

If we aren’t willing to change policies and practices that have been shown to harm students’ well-being, we have to ask ourselves: Do we really value mental health?

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario: We can design school systems that help students thrive academically and psychologically.

Belle Liang and Tim Klein are mental health professionals and co-authors of “How To Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career and Life.”

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The Impact of Working from Home on Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study of Canadian Worker’s Mental Health during the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aidan bodner.

1 Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada

Arti Shridhar

Shayna skakoon-sparling.

2 Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly Ryerson), Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada

Kiffer George Card

3 Institute for Social Connection, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada

Associated Data

Data used in the study analysis is stored and available on the OSF Repository ( https://osf.io/87vgs/ , accessed on 3 August 2022).

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a considerable expansion in the way work settings are structured, with a continuum emerging between working fully in-person and from home. The pandemic has also exacerbated many risk factors for poor mental health in the workplace, especially in public-facing jobs. Therefore, we sought to test the potential relationship between work setting and self-rated mental health. To do so, we modeled the association of work setting (only working from home, only in-person, hybrid) on self-rated mental health (Excellent/Very Good/Good vs. Fair/Poor) in an online survey of Canadian workers during the third wave of COVID-19. The mediating effects of vaccination, masking, and distancing were explored due to the potential effect of COVID-19-related stress on mental health among those working in-person. Among 1576 workers, most reported hybrid work (77.2%). Most also reported good self-rated mental health (80.7%). Exclusive work from home (aOR: 2.79, 95%CI: 1.90, 4.07) and exclusive in-person work (aOR: 2.79, 95%CI: 1.83, 4.26) were associated with poorer self-rated mental health than hybrid work. Vaccine status mediated only a small proportion of this relationship (7%), while masking and physical distancing were not mediators. We conclude that hybrid work arrangements were associated with positive self-rated mental health. Compliance with vaccination, masking, and distancing recommendations did not meaningfully mediate this relationship.

1. Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many risk factors for poor mental health in the workplace. As this pandemic has intensified, with rising cases and deaths globally, so too have feelings of worry and fear in response to ongoing COVID-19 community transmission [ 1 , 2 ]. Studies from across the world have demonstrated that many workers are afraid of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 while at work [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Fear is an adaptive defense mechanism for humans when confronted with a risk or danger, however chronic fear can lead to adverse mental health outcomes and behaviours. In the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of COVID-19 has been associated with depression, anxiety, and even impaired job performance [ 5 ]. A Canadian study from May 2020 reported that mental health has worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, due in large part to economic uncertainty and fear of illness [ 7 ]. Notably, these negative mental health effects have largely been observed in work settings that are predominantly public-facing and more exposed to viral transmission [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].

Alongside healthcare workers, many low-wage service workers have been deemed essential workers in Canada, and like other front-facing workers at the start of the pandemic, these workers have not always had access to safe working environments [ 3 , 13 ]. At several points in the pandemic, many workers had to attend in-person positions without widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines or public health mandates, effectively exposing them to anxiety-provoking environments. The pandemic has also heightened burdens that impact mental health among essential workers, including: adopting caretaking roles of vulnerable family members; choosing between working through illness or taking time off and facing financial losses when sick; lower job security; reduced income; greater risk of contracting COVID-19; and slashed work hours [ 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. These burdens intersect with other socio-demographic factors. For example, ethnic minorities and recent immigrants in Canada are more likely to work in low-wage, public-facing positions, which highlights health equity concerns given the increased risk for COVID-19 transmission and accompanying mental health disorders in this population [ 18 , 19 ].

While mental health risks are well-known among public-facing workers, it is less clear what the mental health impacts are on workers who have been able to transition to working from home. Workers at home may experience a more complex impact of their work settings on their mental health, despite having a generally lower risk situation [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Although much of the research studying teleworks impacts on workers mental health during the pandemic is ongoing, several studies have already shed light on this relationship. For example, some research has shown that workers who were more afraid of COVID-19 were more productive when working from home [ 23 ]. When faced with going back to in-person work, many workers anticipate negative impacts specifically due to concerns about COVID-19 safety [ 24 ]. Conversely, telework during the pandemic has also been associated with increases in social isolation and work stress [ 23 , 25 ], family conflict [ 22 , 23 ], distractions [ 22 , 23 ], as well as food and alcohol consumption [ 22 , 26 ]—which can all negatively impact the mental health of workers [ 22 ]. A recent study from Portugal has shown that employees working from home felt like they needed to appear online and in touch with their colleagues more often, correlating depression, anxiety and stress [ 25 ].

The literature exploring differences in mental health outcomes between workers in public-facing occupations and those working from home in Canada has been sparse [ 13 , 27 ]. One study conducted in the first half of 2020 measured anxiety and depression symptoms through Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionaire-2 (PHQ-2) screeners. These objective measures of mental health contribute only to a narrow understanding of mental health in relation to overall wellbeing. Similarly, most of the current research has examined telework during the first waves of COVID-19. Although useful, this work may not fully capture the impact that novel interventions such as vaccines and mask mandates have on the mental health of workers. Unlike during the first waves of the pandemic, Canadians now have access to free vaccines and masks; and other risk mitigation approaches (e.g., physical distancing, ventilation) are better understood by the public. These measures may, therefore, mitigate the fear of COVID-19 and its associated stress for people working in public, front-facing jobs [ 3 ]. Conversely, we have also experienced a slow relaxation of public health orders which enforced COVID-19 protection behaviours, such as social distancing, vaccine, and mask mandates, which may increase feelings of fear or anxiety about returning to work. Thus, there is a need to explore this area further.

Furthermore, the first doses of the vaccine rollout for the general population in Canada were underway during the third wave of the pandemic in 2021, bringing about another layer of nuance to consider when assessing mental health of [ 28 ]. This development added complexity in both negative and positive directions via the potential for increased apprehension and vaccine hesitancy, as well as the potential for reduced mental distress as a result of the sense of protection offered by the vaccine [ 29 , 30 ]. Reduced mental distress due to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines may have also been more likely due to the mentally taxing events of the first and second waves which saw an overwhelmed healthcare system, deaths in long-term care facilities, and socially isolating lockdown measures [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].

Presently, at the end of the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen jurisdictions move further away from public health orders, following roll-outs of third doses for the majority of working age adults in response to the Omicron variant [ 34 , 35 ]. It remains unclear how the ongoing need for vaccine uptake and the turbulent nature of the pandemic will impact mental health. Moreover, as many companies and organizations transitioned large numbers of staff to working from home or a hybrid of working from home and in-person work during earlier waves of the pandemic, this work will be relevant for both employers and policy makers respectively to assess the costs and benefits of different arrangements as workplaces largely return to in-person work. Determining the extent of any differences in mental health related to work-from-home status has clear health equity implications for employers and policy makers to ensure best practices throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for future public health crises. As COVID-19 risks continue to the present day—particularly with risks such as long-COVID and unmitigated Omicron infection—it has become important to understand mental health differences according to where participants are working.

This study used survey data collected during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada [ 36 ] to examine whether there were any differences in self-rated mental health based on work setting and if so, what contributes to these differences? The dataset provided a unique opportunity to explore the nuances of self-rated mental health, and thus, bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to test the hypothesis that mental health status is poorer among individuals who are not working from home. Additionally, physical distancing and mask wearing, which have been common practice since the onset of the pandemic, will be tested as mediators due to their potential for combating pandemic-related stressors related to concerns about COVID-19 transmission [ 37 ]. A mediation analysis tested whether COVID-19 vaccination, physical distancing, and mask adherence—due to their effectiveness as COVID-19 mitigation measures—had significant and protective effects on self-rated mental health. In conducting these analyses, we hypothesized that people working from home or engaging in hybrid work arrangements had better self-rated mental health than those working exclusively in-person. We further hypothesized that the exposure to COVID-19, as reflected in lack of compliance with public safety COVID-19 prevention guidelines, would partially mediate the association between working from home and worse self-rated mental health.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. study data.

The study utilized the Canadian Social Connection Survey (CSCS) dataset, which collected data from 21 April to 1 June 2021. The survey was circulated on the internet using paid advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google. Participants were eligible if they were Canadian residents and 16 years of age or older. Ethics approval was granted by the University of Victoria Research Ethics Board (Ethics Protocol Number 21-0115) [ 36 ]. All participants provided informed consent and were able to complete the questionnaire in English or French. Given the need to determine mental health effects in various work settings, the dataset allows for a comprehensive exploration. Inclusion for the current study was conditional on whether a respondent indicated that they were working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 2286 eligible participants completed the survey. Of these, 1917 were working during the COVID-19 pandemic. We excluded participants with missing observations on the primary outcome (i.e., self-rated mental health) and primary exposure variable (i.e., amount of work from home during COVID-19); thus, the analytic sample size for this analysis was 1576.

2.2. Study Measures

2.2.1. outcome variable.

Respondents’ self-rated mental health was the primary outcome variable for the study. This variable has previously shown a positive correlation to other mental health morbidity measures [ 38 ], but should not be conflated with other more specific diagnostic categories such as depression or anxiety [ 39 , 40 ]. Indeed, as a more global and subjective measure, many authors consider self-rated mental health as a more holistic measure of mental health outcomes which allows for a broad range of mental health issues to be captured [ 38 , 41 ], including mental health problems that are developing but which are not captured by more clinical mental health indicators [ 40 ]. Participants evaluated their current mental health on a Likert scale (At the present time, would you say your MENTAL HEALTH is: “Poor”, “Fair”, “Good”, “Very good”, or “Excellent”) (see Supplementary Materials File S1 ). The variable was dichotomized to “Negative Self-Rated Mental Health” (“Poor” and “Fair”) and “Positive Self-Rated Mental Health” (“Good”, “Very good”, and “Excellent”). This was deemed to be an acceptable (if not conservative) approach to capture a general sense of mental health status based on precedent from previous studies using self-rated mental health [ 38 ]—allowing us to explicitly identify factors associated with sub-optimal (i.e., fair or poor) mental health.

2.2.2. Primary Explanatory Variable

Work setting (listed as work_from_home in the dataset) was the primary explanatory variable for the study. The variable measured how often participants worked from home (“Not Working During COVID”, “Not at all”, “Very little of the time”, “Some of the time”, “Most of the time”, and “All of the time”). The levels “Very little of the time”, “Some of the time”, and “Most of the time” were collapsed into a single level—“Hybrid”. “Not at all” was recoded as “Do Not Work from Home” and “All of the time” was recoded as “Work from Home Only”. These levels allowed for a continuum of working from home to be represented. Participants who reported not working during COVID-19 were removed from analyses as our goal was to explore the effects among Canadian workers who were currently employed.

2.2.3. Confounding Variables

Other explanatory variables related to employment, adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures, income, and identity were controlled for in multivariable analysis. This allowed us to isolate the effects of demographic and socio-economic factors which may otherwise play an important role in self-rated mental health while also being correlated with work setting. The included variables were household income (originally collected in increments of CAD 10,000, but binned into four groups capturing low, lower-middle, middle, and upper income groups: Less than CAD 30,000, CAD 30,000 to CAD 59,999, CAD 60,000 to CAD 89,999, CAD 90,000 or more), age (18 to 29 years-old, 30 to 39 years-old, 40 to 49 years-old, 50 to 59 years old, 60 years and older), gender (Male, Non-binary, Woman), ethnicity (White; African, Caribbean, or Black; Asian; Indigenous; Middle Eastern; Other), educational attainment (High School Diploma or Lower, Bachelor’s Degree or Higher, Some College), hours worked per week (participant-reported numeric value), national occupation class (Art, culture, recreation and sport; Business; Education, law and social, community, and government services; Health; Management; Manufacturing and utilities; Natural and applied sciences; Natural resources and agriculture; Sales and service; Trades, transport and equipment operators).

In addition to these conventional confounding variables, several additional variables were selected based on their potential to mediate the relationship between self-reported mental health and work setting. COVID-19 vaccine status and adherence to mask and/or physical distancing recommendations were identified as particularly important factors with mediation potential. These concepts were measured by asking to what extent participants wore masks in public (“Not at all”, “Somewhat”, “Very Closely”), to what extent participants practice physical distancing in public (“Not at all”, “Somewhat”, “Very Closely”), and whether participants were vaccinated (“No”, “Yes, one dose”, “Yes, two doses”).

2.3. Statistical Analysis

All statistical analyses were performed using R Statistical Software version 4.1.1 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) [ 42 ]; DescTools and regclass packages were used to assist in model assessment and fitting [ 43 , 44 ]; the mice package was used for multiple imputations of missing observations [ 45 ]; and the mediation package was used for mediation analysis [ 46 ]. Missing observations on the remaining variables were imputed using multiple imputation in the mice package [ 45 ].

An initial multivariable binary logistic regression model ( Supplementary Materials File S1 ), with the outcome variable of self-rated mental health and primary explanatory variable of work setting, was constructed with 30 confounding variables. The final multivariable model was developed by running a backwards selection process favouring the model with lowest Akaike Information Criterion [ 47 ]. This process was balanced by supplementing the model with variables critical to understanding the relationship between work-setting and self-rated mental health that the backwards selection process had excluded. McFadden’s Pseudo R 2 and variance inflation factor were assessed for reasonability of model fit and collinearity, with variables exhibiting collinearity removed to arrive at a final multivariable model. Bivariable logistic regression models were constructed from the newly developed study sample between all explanatory variables and the outcome variable.

Mediation analysis was followed firstly via Baron and Kenney’s (1986) steps for determining mediation via logistic regression models and secondly by utilizing the mediate package in R with bootstrapping enabled [ 48 , 49 ]. The mediate package explicitly allows for handling of binary and logistic measures outside of a linear framework, while Baron and Kenney’s (1986) steps provide a process for reviewing bivariable and multivariable models, which has helped us to evaluate the associations between our primary exposure and outcome, primary exposure and mediator, mediator and outcome, and primary exposure while controlling for the mediator and outcome. The mediate function was then used for more rigorous tests of indirect (mediation) effects on the outcome variable [ 49 ].

3.1. Sample Overview

2286 respondents were initially included. However, 370 indicated they were not currently employed and of the remaining 1916 employed respondents, 340 were missing data on our primary measures. This resulted in 1576 participants eligible for analysis. Descriptive statistics, stratified by self-rated mental health, are presented in Table 1 . The study sample predominantly reported positive self-rated mental health (80.7%) with the majority of participants in both outcome groups responding that they work both from home and in person (hybrid); however, a greater proportion (46%) of those not working from home reported negative self-rated mental health compared to those in other work setting configurations ( Figure 1 ). In terms of demographics, 41.8% were 18 to 29 years-old; 49.9% identified as a man; 65.5% were White; 36.0% earned between CAD 30,000 and CAD 59,000 in 2020; and 51.0% had a Bachelor’s degree or higher. The average number of reported hours worked per week was 23.87; 19.9% worked in sales and service; 53.7% indicated they very closely practice physically distancing 2 metres from others; 72.8% reported very closely adhering to wearing masks in public; and 56.8% had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Work Setting and Self-Rated Mental Health.

Sample Characteristics Stratified by Self-Rated Mental Health.

3.2. Regression Analysis

Bivariable associations were investigated between all explanatory variables and self-rated mental health ( Table 2 ). Associations between self-rated mental health and work setting were significant among people not working from home as well as those exclusively working from home. These groups had respectively 5.70 (95% Confidence Interval [95% CI]: 3.98, 8.15) and 3.97 (95% CI: 2.85, 5.52) greater odds of negative self-rated mental health as compared to people working in hybrid arrangements. Other significant bivariable associations with negative self-rated mental health were age (all ages over 40 years-old versus those 18 to 29 years-old) and being non-binary or a woman (vs. a man). Positive self-rated mental health was significantly associated with African, Caribbean, or Black ethnicity (vs. White) and Indigenous ethnicity (vs. White); having some college education or a Bachelor’s degree or higher (vs. high school diploma or lower); employment in business, health, management, natural and applied sciences, or trades, transport and equipment operations (vs. sales and services); and having one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (vs. not having received a COVID-19 vaccine).

Bivariable and Multivariable Logistic Regression Models.

Numeric bolding: Indicates statistical significance.

In the multivariable model, after controlling for potential confounders, negative self-rated mental health retained the association with not working from home (Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.83, 4.26) and working from home exclusively (aOR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.90, 4.07) versus hybrid work. Furthermore, negative self-rated mental health was significantly associated with increasing hours worked per week, being 40 years or older (vs. 18 to 29 years-old), identifying as non-binary (vs. man), Middle Eastern or Other ethnicity (vs. White), Conversely, positive self-rated mental health was associated with employment in business, health, management, natural and applied sciences, or trades, transport and equipment operations (vs. sales and services); and having two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (vs. not having received any).

3.3. Mediation Analysis

Table 3 illustrates the results of the mediation analyses for each of the three COVID-19 prevention factors. Vaccination status was found to be a statistically significant mediator ( p = 0.02), mediating approximately 7% of the relationship between work setting and self-rated mental health; mask wearing ( p = 0.76) and physical distancing ( p = 0.20) were not found to significantly mediate the relationship. In the mediation analyses for vaccination status, the first part of the pathway between work setting and self-rated mental health, when adjusting for having received a COVID-19 vaccine, shows not working from home is significantly associated with negative self-rated mental health (aOR: 3.91, 95% CI: 2.74, 5.56). The next part of the pathway between work setting and having received a COVID-19 vaccine indicates people not working from home had lower odds of having at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.70). The last part of the pathway shows a significant association between having received a COVID-19 vaccine and positive self-rated mental health (OR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.43).

Relationship between Work Setting (Ref = At least some of the time (Hybrid/Work from home only)), Mediators (Vaccination Status (Ref = No), Adherence to Mask Wearing Recommendations (Ref = Not at all), and Adherence to Physical Distancing Recommendations (Ref = Not at all)), and Self-Rated Mental Health (Ref = Positive).

1 OR = Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval); 2 aOR = Adjusted Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval); * p ≤ 0.05; Numeric bolding: Indicates statistical significance; WS = Work setting; SRMH = Self-rated mental health.

4. Discussion

Primary findings.

This study represents a preliminary assessment of the relationship between work setting and self-rated mental health, controlling for relevant demographic factors, and providing several preliminary insights into the ways in which COVID-19 stressors and protections shape these relationships. In doing so, our findings show that mental health is adversely impacted for those either working exclusively from home or in person. This is in agreement with existing literature showing poor mental health among workers in public-facing workspaces across numerous international contexts [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Similarly, although findings of studies examining mental health effects of working from home prior to the COVID-19 pandemic have been inconsistent [ 21 ], studies exploring this increasingly normalized work setting during the pandemic have generally found working from home associated with poorer mental health outcomes [ 26 ]. This is often attributed to difficulties in establishing a work-life balance and due to feelings of isolation [ 22 , 23 , 50 , 51 ]. However, the current findings are unique in that only a handful of studies investigating the link between workplace and mental health during COVID-19 to-date have directly examined varying degrees of working from home [ 8 , 9 , 13 , 27 ] and none to our knowledge have investigated these associations during the later phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccines were made widely available. Furthermore, the majority of studies have explored the mental health of healthcare workers [ 2 , 11 , 12 , 52 ] or those in public-facing positions [ 10 ]. As such, the present study makes a valuable contribution in terms of the timing within the COVID-19 pandemic, its focus on a broad range of labour sectors, and its use of holistic self-rated mental health measures.

As such, these findings help to further research into the mental health outcomes of the Canadian workforce during the later phases of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. One Canadian study exploring the relationship between working from home and self-rated mental health (although not of primary interest) during the first wave of the pandemic found that workers who transitioned to working from home did not differ or have affected mental health when compared to those who remained working in-person. Conversely, another Canadian study from the first wave of the pandemic found lower prevalence of depression and anxiety among respondents working from home or those working in person whose employers met all of their infection control needs [ 27 ]. These findings differ from what this study has found during the third wave, namely: both not working from home and working exclusively from home are significantly associated with negative self-rated mental health. Turning to international evidence (again from the first wave), both Gómez-Salgado et al. (2020) and Mazza et al. (2020) found poorer mental health was associated with not working from home, when compared to working from home, and not working at all, respectively. The range of evidence adds credence to our findings indicating negative mental health outcomes at either end of the work from home continuum—where workers are exclusively working from one location.

The mediation analysis found that, of the three variables tested, COVID-19 vaccination status was the only significant mediator of the effect of work setting on self-rated mental health. However, this variable mediated only approximately 7% of the effect of work setting on self-rated mental health. Both the lack of significance and the low impact of the mediation among the variables tested suggests that the prominent source of psychological stress may not arise from fear of COVID-19 infection. Although it is likely that these prevention measures may do less to mediate mental health among workers who are not continually facing risk of viral exposure, it is less clear why this would also be the case for public-facing workers. One possibility could be that, by the later phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces already tended to have high levels of COVID-19 control measures in place [ 53 ], likely reducing the contribution of the environment to stress related to concerns about viral exposure. Secondly, views on the severity of COVID-19 symptoms or susceptibility to it may have an impact on the extent that the COVID-19 prevention measures mediate mental health [ 54 ]. Lastly, uncertainty related to the unpredictable trajectory of the pandemic, such as economic concerns may present as greater stressors when compared to fears of COVID-19 infection [ 55 ].

This study also highlighted poor negative mental health among several groups. Though we did not specifically explore groups that are more likely to work from home, concerns have been raised about the well-being of ethnic minority groups who disproportionately work in public-facing occupations [ 56 ]. These sectors have experienced numerous disruptions in their capacity to operate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic [ 19 ]. This has had severe effects on members of ethnic minorities. For instance, in mid-2020, 44% and 40% of people of Arabic and West Asian ethnicity respectively, reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had moderate to strong impacts on their financial stability [ 57 ].

The identity groups associated with negative self-rated mental health—non-binary individuals and people over 40 years—are less clear in terms of contextualizing within work setting. For non-binary individuals, it is unclear whether they are more likely to work from home; however, it does appear that the pre-pandemic stressors have been compounded by COVID-19 for members of sexual and gender minorities [ 58 ]. As for middle-and-older age workers, the association with negative self-rated mental health corresponds to a general trend that mental health has worsened for all age groups in Canada since the onset of the pandemic [ 59 ]; however, it is unclear what this finding may mean in the context of other studies, indicating better mental health among older adults during the pandemic [ 60 , 61 ].

Despite COVID-19 prevention measures not emerging as a primary influencer of self-rated mental health, Canadian provinces such as British Columbia have routinely made it a priority to vaccinate frontline workers, a category of worker who cannot typically work from home [ 62 ]. Moreover, in examining other sources of economic-related stress, initial pandemic responses did see the Canadian federal government initiating supports for unemployed workers such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in conjunction with provincial eviction bans, and to a lesser extent, rent freezes [ 63 ]. Though CERB provided support for workers financially impacted by the pandemic, workers who continued to be employed did not enjoy these benefits, despite facing the possibility of reduced work hours. Moreover, rent freezes that were widely enacted by provincial governments were largely discontinued after December 2020 [ 63 ]. Thus, despite a relatively rapid implementation of social protections in response to the arrival of COVID-19 in Canada [ 64 ], the lack of continuity of these measures coupled with pandemic uncertainty may feed into stressors affecting Canadian workers.

5. Limitations

This exploratory study has limitations but provides rationale for more rigorous investigations of the potential benefits of hybrid work. Limitations include our use of secondary data that likely does not fully capture the nuanced associations between work setting and self-rated mental health. These relationships are further simplified by our analytic choices to collapse work setting to three levels and self-rated mental health to two levels. Future studies should explore more comprehensive measures of mental health, including using specific measures of anxiety and depression. Such analyses might be feasible in large surveys, such as ours, through the use of short scales developed for large surveys, such as the PHQ-2 and GAD-2. It is possible that these more specific measures would allow for greater granularity in understanding how working conditions during an ongoing public health crisis is related to mental health and well-being—particularly in terms of the mediating effects of COVID-19 prevention on anxiety and stress (vs. depression). Qualitative research could also be used to better understand specific pathways of poor mental health for those working exclusively from home or in-person. Given limitations in measurement, the results of the current study must be interpreted with caution when considering specific psychological disorders. As well, the dataset over-represented (77.2%) individuals who work in hybrid arrangements, compared to the other two groups (exclusively working from home and exclusively working in-person). Caution should therefore be taken in interpretation, as this drastically departs from the range of Canadian workers working the majority of their hours from home—40.5% in April 2020 to 26.5% in June 2021 [ 65 ]. Lastly, as the CSCS did not include questions assessing individuals’ worry about COVID-19 exposure at work, nor how well their workplace implemented protection protocols, we were not able to account for the nuance of psychological distress related to COVID-19 infection. The measures we use to assess compliance are global and not work specific. As such, our mediation models should be interpreted as preliminary. Likewise, some measures need refined assessment in future studies. For example, to measure income, participants’ household incomes were collected in increments of $10,000 CAD. Bins of $30,000 CAD were selected with consideration of classifying individuals according to approximate thresholds for low- (e.g., Approx. $30,000 per households) and median income (approx. $90,000 per household) in Canada. As household size and cost-of living values varied, a more nuanced measure of income would have been preferred by was not available in this secondary data analysis. Personal income, adjusted for cost of living, could provide a more nuanced insight into working condition and types of work engaged in, as these parameters are undoubtedly important for understanding worker health.

6. Future Research Directions

Recognizing these limitations, as well as several opportunities to establish new lines of inquiry, we recommend that future research on the COVID-19 pandemic and future communicable disease epidemics should aim to sample a more representative group of people working from home; determine interactions between ethnic, sexual and gender minorities, and older populations; and incorporate measures of self-assessed psychological distress around workplace safety. Furthermore, as noted above, the present study did not account for important and salient factors such as living conditions, household composition, sources of material, social, and emotional support, non-work-related labor, and other undoubtedly important factors. Future research will explore these factors in relation to working arrangements. Such analyses are critical for understanding the gendered dynamics of work from home. We hypothesize that this would be a critical moderator for exploration in future research. As well, family composition and income are critical moderators for understanding how people can best be supported in distance work environments. Therefore, future research should conduct more narrow analyses or improve measurements of these key factors so that a more nuanced profile of working conditions (e.g., income, class, status, hierarchy) can be assessed in relation to our research questions. Finally, it is critical for longitudinal within person studies to continue examining the effect of work from home on individual health and wellbeing.

7. Conclusions

Given the few studies that are available assessing the effect of work setting on mental health, this study provides important data demonstrating potential hazards to mental health associated with exclusively in-person or home-based work. Hybrid models of work may therefore provide promising opportunities to improve the mental health of workers. Of course, replication will further advance our understanding of telecommuting and in-person work, particularly in the context of an ongoing public health crisis that has disproportionately impacted low-wage and marginalized people.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the 2021 Social Connection Survey Participants for their contributions of time and attention in completing our survey.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph191811588/s1 , File S1: Independent Variables Included in Initial Multivariable Binary Regression Model.

Funding Statement

Funding for the Canadian Social Connection Survey was received from a Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant (#480066) and a Genwell Project Research Catalyst Grant (#2021-001). KGC is funded by a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar Award (#1547).

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.B., K.G.C., A.S., and E.B.; Data curation, K.G.C.; Formal analysis, A.B.; Funding acquisition, K.G.C.; Methodology, A.B. and K.G.C.; Supervision, K.G.C.; Writing—original draft, A.B.; Writing—review & editing, A.B., L.R., E.B., A.S., S.S.-S. and K.G.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of University of Victoria (protocol code 21-0115; 9 April 2021).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

When Is Homework Stressful? Its Effects on Students’ Mental Health

Are you wondering when is homework stressful? Well, homework is a vital constituent in keeping students attentive to the course covered in a class. By applying the lessons, students learned in class, they can gain a mastery of the material by reflecting on it in greater detail and applying what they learned through homework. 

However, students get advantages from homework, as it improves soft skills like organisation and time management which are important after high school. However, the additional work usually causes anxiety for both the parents and the child. As their load of homework accumulates, some students may find themselves growing more and more bored.

Students may take assistance online and ask someone to do my online homework . As there are many platforms available for the students such as Chegg, Scholarly Help, and Quizlet offering academic services that can assist students in completing their homework on time. 

Negative impact of homework

There are the following reasons why is homework stressful and leads to depression for students and affect their mental health. As they work hard on their assignments for alarmingly long periods, students’ mental health is repeatedly put at risk. Here are some serious arguments against too much homework.

No uniqueness

Homework should be intended to encourage children to express themselves more creatively. Teachers must assign kids intriguing assignments that highlight their uniqueness. similar to writing an essay on a topic they enjoy.

Moreover, the key is encouraging the child instead of criticizing him for writing a poor essay so that he can express himself more creatively.

Lack of sleep

One of the most prevalent adverse effects of schoolwork is lack of sleep. The average student only gets about 5 hours of sleep per night since they stay up late to complete their homework, even though the body needs at least 7 hours of sleep every day. Lack of sleep has an impact on both mental and physical health.

No pleasure

Students learn more effectively while they are having fun. They typically learn things more quickly when their minds are not clouded by fear. However, the fear factor that most teachers introduce into homework causes kids to turn to unethical means of completing their assignments.

Excessive homework

The lack of coordination between teachers in the existing educational system is a concern. As a result, teachers frequently end up assigning children far more work than they can handle. In such circumstances, children turn to cheat on their schoolwork by either copying their friends’ work or using online resources that assist with homework.

Anxiety level

Homework stress can increase anxiety levels and that could hurt the blood pressure norms in young people . Do you know? Around 3.5% of young people in the USA have high blood pressure. So why is homework stressful for children when homework is meant to be enjoyable and something they look forward to doing? It is simple to reject this claim by asserting that schoolwork is never enjoyable, yet with some careful consideration and preparation, homework may become pleasurable.

No time for personal matters

Students that have an excessive amount of homework miss out on personal time. They can’t get enough enjoyment. There is little time left over for hobbies, interpersonal interaction with colleagues, and other activities. 

However, many students dislike doing their assignments since they don’t have enough time. As they grow to detest it, they can stop learning. In any case, it has a significant negative impact on their mental health.

Children are no different than everyone else in need of a break. Weekends with no homework should be considered by schools so that kids have time to unwind and prepare for the coming week. Without a break, doing homework all week long might be stressful.

How do parents help kids with homework?

Encouraging children’s well-being and health begins with parents being involved in their children’s lives. By taking part in their homework routine, you can see any issues your child may be having and offer them the necessary support.

Set up a routine

Your student will develop and maintain good study habits if you have a clear and organized homework regimen. If there is still a lot of schoolwork to finish, try putting a time limit. Students must obtain regular, good sleep every single night.

Observe carefully

The student is ultimately responsible for their homework. Because of this, parents should only focus on ensuring that their children are on track with their assignments and leave it to the teacher to determine what skills the students have and have not learned in class.

Listen to your child

One of the nicest things a parent can do for their kids is to ask open-ended questions and listen to their responses. Many kids are reluctant to acknowledge they are struggling with their homework because they fear being labelled as failures or lazy if they do.

However, every parent wants their child to succeed to the best of their ability, but it’s crucial to be prepared to ease the pressure if your child starts to show signs of being overburdened with homework.

Talk to your teachers

Also, make sure to contact the teacher with any problems regarding your homework by phone or email. Additionally, it demonstrates to your student that you and their teacher are working together to further their education.

Homework with friends

If you are still thinking is homework stressful then It’s better to do homework with buddies because it gives them these advantages. Their stress is reduced by collaborating, interacting, and sharing with peers.

Additionally, students are more relaxed when they work on homework with pals. It makes even having too much homework manageable by ensuring they receive the support they require when working on the assignment. Additionally, it improves their communication abilities.

However, doing homework with friends guarantees that one learns how to communicate well and express themselves. 

Review homework plan

Create a schedule for finishing schoolwork on time with your child. Every few weeks, review the strategy and make any necessary adjustments. Gratefully, more schools are making an effort to control the quantity of homework assigned to children to lessen the stress this produces.

Bottom line

Finally, be aware that homework-related stress is fairly prevalent and is likely to occasionally affect you or your student. Sometimes all you or your kid needs to calm down and get back on track is a brief moment of comfort. So if you are a student and wondering if is homework stressful then you must go through this blog.

While homework is a crucial component of a student’s education, when kids are overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to perform, the advantages of homework can be lost and grades can suffer. Finding a balance that ensures students understand the material covered in class without becoming overburdened is therefore essential.

Zuella Montemayor did her degree in psychology at the University of Toronto. She is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.

Psychreg is a digital media company and not a clinical company. Our content does not constitute a medical or psychological consultation. See a certified medical or mental health professional for diagnosis.

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How Does Homework Affect Students Mental Health?

• Post author By Zoro
• March 12, 2024
• No Comments on How Does Homework Affect Students Mental Health?

Homework is a big part of school and helps us do well in our studies. But, lately, people are worried about how it might affect how we feel. This blog will look into how does homework affect students mental health—the good and the not-so-good. Homework is awesome because it makes us better at things, helps us manage our time, and teaches us to be responsible. But sometimes, it can make us feel stressed or tired. 

Let’s explore both sides and figure out how we can make homework work better for us. Together, we can make sure that homework helps us learn and keeps us feeling good too!

Before we start talking about the homework, let us discuss some of its positive sides.

Table of Contents

The Positive Side of Homework

Critical thinking and problem-solving:.

Homework assignments often require students to engage in critical thinking and problem-solving. By tackling challenging problems independently, students develop analytical skills and the ability to approach complex issues with confidence. This cognitive engagement positively contributes to their mental development.

Consolidation of Knowledge:

Repetition is a key factor in learning, and homework provides an avenue for students to consolidate their understanding of academic concepts. Revisiting and applying knowledge through assignments reinforces learning, leading to a deeper comprehension of the subject matter. This reinforcement fosters a positive attitude towards learning and academic achievement.

Self-Directed Learning:

Homework empowers students to become self-directed learners. By independently researching, organizing information, and completing assignments, students take control of their education. This autonomy not only enhances academic performance but also cultivates a sense of self-efficacy, positively influencing their overall mental well-being.

Preparation for Future Challenges:

Beyond academic content, homework prepares students for future challenges in higher education and the workforce. The ability to manage tasks, meet deadlines, and assume responsibility for one’s work is a valuable skill set that extends beyond the classroom. This preparation instills a proactive and resilient mindset, contributing positively to students’ mental readiness for future endeavors.

Enhanced Communication Skills:

Some homework assignments involve written or oral communication, encouraging students to express their thoughts and ideas effectively. The development of communication skills is not only beneficial academically but also in various aspects of life. The ability to articulate ideas with clarity and confidence positively influences self-expression and interpersonal relationships, contributing to overall mental well-being.

Sense of Purpose and Achievement:

Successfully completing homework assignments provides students with a sense of purpose and achievement. Each completed task, no matter how small, contributes to a feeling of progress and accomplishment. This positive reinforcement fosters a healthy mindset, instilling the belief that effort and dedication lead to success, both academically and personally.

How Does Homework Affect Students Mental Health

The negative side of homework, diminished leisure time:.

A heavy load of homework can eat into the time meant for relaxation and hobbies, leaving students with limited opportunities to unwind. This lack of leisure can contribute to feelings of burnout and negatively impact their overall mental well-being.

Strain on Family Relationships:

Excessive homework can strain relationships at home as students struggle to balance academic demands with family time. This strain may lead to increased tension, creating an unhealthy environment that can contribute to stress and anxiety.

Reduced Personal Time:

Beyond impacting social life, an overwhelming amount of homework can also reduce a student’s personal time. Lack of time for self-care and personal activities can leave students feeling overwhelmed and contribute to a decline in mental health.

Negative Perception of Learning:

When homework becomes too demanding, it may lead students to associate learning with stress and pressure. This negative perception can affect their overall attitude towards education, potentially diminishing their interest in learning and harming their mental well-being.

Increased Pressure and Competition:

A constant stream of homework assignments may intensify the competitive atmosphere among students. The pressure to excel academically can create a stressful environment, fostering feelings of inadequacy and negatively impacting mental health.

Limited Time for Reflection:

Excessive homework often leaves little time for students to reflect on what they’ve learned. Reflection is crucial for understanding and internalizing knowledge, and the lack of it can contribute to a superficial understanding of subjects, potentially affecting mental clarity and overall well-being.

Finding The Balance

In the world of homework, it’s important to find a sweet spot that makes learning effective without stressing us out. One key is open communication—teachers, students, and parents chatting about what’s expected from homework. Clear rules and fair expectations make homework less overwhelming and more manageable.

Taking breaks during study time is like giving our brains a breather. Short breaks help us recharge, making it easier to concentrate. It’s like hitting the reset button for our minds, reducing stress, and making us feel better overall.

Quality matters more than quantity. Instead of drowning in lots of homework, we can focus on really understanding and using what we learn. It’s like enjoying a good meal rather than stuffing ourselves with snacks. This approach makes learning more meaningful and less stressful.

So, finding the balance means talking openly about homework, taking breaks to stay fresh, and focusing on understanding rather than piling up tasks. When we get this mix right, homework becomes a friendlier part of learning, helping our brains grow without causing unnecessary stress.

In the journey of homework and mental well-being, finding the right balance is like creating a recipe for success. By talking openly about homework, taking breaks, and valuing quality over quantity, we can make learning a more enjoyable experience. It’s not just about finishing tasks; it’s about understanding and growing.

Let’s remember that homework is meant to help us, not stress us out. So, as we navigate this homework adventure, let’s keep the communication lines open, take those refreshing breaks, and focus on the good stuff. When we find this balance, homework becomes a positive part of our learning journey, nurturing not just our minds but also our overall well-being.

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Recent Posts

Does Homework Affect Mental Health?

Homework can be a source of frustration and stress for students, but how does it affect their mental health? As studies into this area continue to gather evidence, it is clear that there is a correlation between homework and mental health. In this article, we will explore the potential impacts of homework on students’ mental health, from the perspectives of both students and educators.

Yes, homework can affect mental health. It can lead to feelings of stress, frustration and even anger. Too much homework can also lead to sleep deprivation, which can have a negative impact on mental health. It’s important to balance homework with other activities such as exercise, spending time with family and friends, and participating in hobbies.

The Relationship Between Homework and Time Management

How to manage homework and mental health, the role of schools and parents, the impact of technology, can too much homework harm your child’s health, does homework impact mental health.

Homework can be a difficult task for students, especially when they are overwhelmed with the amount of work they have to complete. It is important to consider how homework impacts the mental health of students. While there is no single answer to this question, research suggests that homework can have a negative effect on mental health. Studies have found that students who spend a lot of time on homework have higher levels of stress and anxiety, as well as lower levels of academic performance.

One of the most common negative effects of homework on mental health is stress. Students who have too much homework can become overwhelmed, leading to feelings of frustration, hopelessness, and helplessness. This can lead to increased levels of stress, which can have a negative impact on mental health. Furthermore, stress can lead to difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, and decreased motivation.

Another way that homework can negatively impact mental health is through academic performance. Research has found that students who spend too much time on homework have lower grades and are less likely to complete their assignments. This can lead to a decrease in self-esteem, as students may feel like they are not capable of achieving their academic goals. It can also lead to an increase in anxiety, as students may feel like they are not able to keep up with their peers.

Time management is an important skill for any student, and it can be difficult to manage when there is a lot of homework to complete. Students who have too much homework may find that they do not have enough time to complete their assignments, leading to feelings of frustration and helplessness. This can lead to poor time management skills, which can have a negative impact on mental health.

Furthermore, when students have too much homework, it can lead to procrastination. This can be a problem because it can lead to an inability to focus and get tasks done, which can have a negative impact on mental health. Poor time management skills can also lead to an inability to prioritize tasks, which can have a negative effect on overall performance.

It is important for students to find ways to manage their homework and mental health. One way to do this is to break up assignments into smaller chunks. This can help students to focus on one task at a time, which can reduce stress and anxiety. Additionally, students should try to take breaks while completing assignments, as this can help them to stay focused and motivated.

Furthermore, it is important for students to set realistic goals when it comes to completing their homework. Setting realistic goals can help students to stay motivated and can help them to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, students should try to find ways to make their homework more enjoyable, such as working with a friend or listening to music.

Schools and parents can also play an important role in helping students manage their homework and mental health. Schools can provide students with resources and support to help them manage their workload. Parents can also provide support and guidance to help students manage their workload. Additionally, both schools and parents can help students to set realistic goals and to develop good time management skills.

Technology can also have a positive impact on mental health when it comes to homework. Many students use technology to help them complete their assignments more quickly and efficiently. Additionally, technology can help students to stay organized and motivated. For example, many students use online calendars and to-do lists to help them keep track of their assignments.

Overall, homework can have a negative impact on mental health, but there are ways to manage this impact. Students should strive to find ways to make their homework more manageable, such as breaking up assignments into smaller chunks and setting realistic goals. Additionally, schools and parents can provide support and guidance to help students manage their workload. Finally, technology can be used to help students stay organized and motivated.

Related Faq

Q1: What is the purpose of homework? A1: Homework is typically assigned to students by their teachers as a way to review and practice the material learned in class. It is meant to reinforce the skills and knowledge taught in class and to help students develop good study habits, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.

Q2: What are the potential positive effects of doing homework? A2: Doing homework can potentially have positive effects on a student’s mental health. It can help to improve a student’s self-esteem and confidence by allowing them to practice their skills and gain a sense of accomplishment when completing their homework correctly. It can also help to reduce stress and anxiety by allowing students to work at their own pace and in the comfort of their own home.

Q3: What are the potential negative effects of doing homework? A3: The potential negative effects of doing homework can include an increase in stress and anxiety levels due to the pressure of completing assignments in a limited amount of time. It can also lead to feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction if a student is unable to complete the assignment correctly or quickly enough. Additionally, excessive amounts of homework can lead to a lack of sleep and decreased physical activity, both of which can contribute to mental health issues.

Q4: How can parents help their children manage their homework-related stress? A4: Parents can help their children manage their homework-related stress by creating a supportive environment in which their children feel comfortable and safe asking for help. Additionally, parents can ensure their children have a balanced schedule by limiting the amount of time spent on homework and encouraging physical activity and other activities. They can also help by providing a quiet, well-lit work area and allowing their children to break up their assignments into smaller tasks to make them seem more manageable.

Q5: How can teachers help their students manage their homework-related stress? A5: Teachers can help their students manage their homework-related stress by providing clear instructions and expectations for assignments. They can also ensure that the amount of homework assigned is appropriate for the student’s age and ability level. Additionally, teachers can provide resources for students who may need extra help, such as additional tutoring or study groups.

Q6: Is there a correlation between homework and poor mental health? A6: While there is no definitive answer to this question, there is evidence to suggest that excessive amounts of homework can be detrimental to a student’s mental health. Studies have found that too much homework can lead to increased stress and anxiety levels, as well as decreased physical activity levels. Additionally, it can lead to a lack of sleep, which can also have a negative effect on mental health.

The answer to the question of whether or not homework affects mental health is a resounding yes. Homework can have a positive effect on mental health when managed in a balanced and reasonable way, but when taken to extremes, it can become a source of stress, anxiety, and depression. The key is to ensure that homework is assigned in moderation and that students have the support they need to manage it. With the right balance, homework can help students build problem-solving skills, increase their confidence, and provide an opportunity to practice time management.

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THE ALGONQUIN HARBINGER

Excessive homework negatively impacts mental health, causes unnecessary stress.

Caroline Lou

Opinion Editor Jula Utzschneider writes on the overwhelming chip on every student’s shoulder: homework.

Jula Utzschneider , Opinion Editor November 10, 2021

When the bell rings to end last period every day, I feel a sense of relief. However, this feeling soon wears off as I realize just how much work I have to do after the already-stressful school day ends.

While homework can be beneficial, more often than not, it is assigned excessively and unnecessarily. Teachers give a significant amount of homework, often due the next day. This causes students to spend far too much time doing such assignments and can be detrimental.

A 2013 study conducted at Stanford University found that students in top-performing school districts who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives and alienation from society. That study, published in The Journal of Experimental Education , suggested that any more than two hours of homework per night is counterproductive. However, students who participated in the study reported doing slightly more than three hours of homework every night.

And, yes, the amount of homework given to students depends on the course level they take. But, with increasingly competitive college acceptance rates (demanding more extracurriculars and college-level classes), many students feel forced to take these more challenging courses. This is a huge problem, especially as teachers give homework only thinking about their own class, not the five or six others students have.

Additionally, when it came to stress, more than 70% of students in the Stanford study said they were “often or always stressed over schoolwork,” with 56% listing homework as a primary stressor. More than 80% of students reported having at least one stress-related symptom (such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, stomach problems and more) in the past month, and 44% said they had experienced three or more symptoms. 

Less than 1% of the students said homework was not a stressor, demonstrating that the vast majority feel overwhelmed and pressured by the amount of work they receive.

Not to mention, the time spent on these assignments could easily be spent doing something enjoyable. Many students feel forced or obligated to choose homework over practicing other talents or skills, which should never be the case. Teachers should be encouraging these extracurriculars, rather than making it impossible for students to partake in them.

In terms of what teachers can do, it’s quite simple, really. Homework is intended for students to either practice a subject further or to cover topics teachers couldn’t during the allotted class time. It should not be busywork that just wastes a student’s time. 

Teachers should be giving students work that is absolutely necessary (not busy work), and eliminate it altogether where they can. It is extremely important that students not only get through high school but thrive and enjoy it too.

How much time do you spend doing homework on an average school night?

Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.

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Does Homework Cause Stress? Exploring the Impact on Students’ Mental Health

How much homework is too much?

Jump to: The Link Between Homework and Stress | Homework’s Impact on Mental Health | Benefits of Homework | How Much Homework Should Teacher’s Assign? | Advice for Students | How Healium Helps

Homework has become a matter of concern for educators, parents, and researchers due to its potential effects on students’ stress levels. It’s no secret that students often find themselves grappling with high levels of stress and anxiety throughout their academic careers, so understanding the extent to which homework affects those stress levels is important. 

By delving into the latest research and understanding the underlying factors at play, we hope to provide valuable insights for educators, parents, and students who are wondering about how much stress homework is causing in their lives.

The Link Between Homework and Stress: What the Research Says

Over the years, numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between homework and stress levels in students. 

One study published in the Journal of Experimental Education found that students who reported spending more than two hours per night on homework experienced higher stress levels and physical health issues . Those same students reported over three hours of homework a night on average.

This study, conducted by Stanford lecturer Denise Pope, has been heavily cited throughout the years, with WebMD even producing the below video on the topic– part of their special report series on teens and stress : 

Additional studies published by Sleep Health Journal found that long hours on homework on may be a risk factor for depression while also suggesting that reducing workload outside of class may benefit sleep and mental fitness .

Lastly, a study presented by Frontiers in Psychology highlighted significant health implications for high school students facing chronic stress, including emotional exhaustion and alcohol and drug use.

Overall, it appears clear that the answer to whether or not homework is a significant stressor for students is “Yes, depending on the workload assigned to students.” As such, teachers and parents alike should be wary of how much work they are truly putting on the shoulders of teenagers. 

Homework’s Impact on Mental Health and Well-being

Homework-induced stress on students is far-reaching and involves both psychological and physiological side effects. 

1. Potential Psychological Effects of Homework-Induced Stress:

• Anxiety: The pressure to perform academically and meet homework expectations can lead to heightened levels of anxiety in students. Constant worry about completing assignments on time and achieving high grades can be overwhelming.

• Sleep Disturbances : Homework-related stress can disrupt students’ sleep patterns, leading to sleep anxiety or sleep deprivation, both of which can negatively impact cognitive function and emotional regulation.

• Reduced Motivation: Excessive homework demands can drain students’ motivation, causing them to feel fatigued and disengaged from their studies. Reduced motivation may lead to a lack of interest in learning, hindering overall academic performance.

2. Potential Physical Effects of Homework-Induced Stress:

• Impaired Immune Function: Prolonged stress can weaken the immune system, making students more susceptible to illnesses and infections.

• Disrupted Hormonal Balance : The body’s stress response triggers the release of hormones like cortisol, which, when chronically elevated due to stress, can disrupt the delicate hormonal balance and lead to various health issues.

• Gastrointestinal Disturbances: Stress has been known to affect the gastrointestinal system, leading to symptoms such as stomachaches, nausea, and other digestive problems.

• Cardiovascular Impact: The increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure associated with stress can strain the cardiovascular system, potentially increasing the risk of heart-related issues in the long run.

• Brain impact: Prolonged exposure to stress hormones may impact the brain’s functioning , affecting memory, concentration, and cognitive abilities.

The Benefits of Homework

It’s important to note that homework also offers many benefits that contribute to students’ academic growth and development, such as: 

• Development of Time Management Skills: Completing homework within specified deadlines encourages students to manage their time efficiently. This valuable skill extends beyond academics and becomes essential in various aspects of life.

• Preparation for Future Challenges : Homework helps prepare students for future academic challenges and responsibilities. It fosters a sense of discipline and responsibility, qualities that are crucial for success in higher education and professional life.

• Enhanced Problem-Solving Abilities: Homework often presents students with challenging problems to solve. Tackling these problems independently nurtures critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

However, while homework can foster discipline, time management, and self-directed learning, it is crucial to strike a balance that promotes both academic growth and mental well-being .

How Much Homework Should Teachers Assign?

As a general guideline, educators should consider assigning a workload that allows students to grasp concepts effectively without overwhelming them . Quality over quantity is key, ensuring that homework assignments are purposeful, relevant, and targeted towards specific objectives. 

Advice for Students: How to balance Homework and Well-being

Finding a balance between academic responsibilities and well-being is crucial for students. Here are some practical tips and techniques to help manage homework-related stress and foster a healthier approach to learning:

• Effective Time Management : Encourage students to create a structured study schedule that allocates sufficient time for homework, breaks, and other activities. Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals can prevent last-minute rushes and reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.

• Break Tasks into Smaller Chunks : Large assignments can be daunting and may contribute to stress. Students should break such tasks into smaller, manageable parts. This approach not only makes the workload seem less intimidating but also provides a sense of accomplishment as each section is completed.

• Find a Distraction-Free Zone : Establish a designated study area that is free from distractions like smartphones, television, or social media. This setting will improve focus and productivity, reducing time needed to complete homework.

• Be Active : Regular exercise is known to reduce stress and enhance mood. Encourage students to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine, whether it’s going for a walk, playing a sport, or doing yoga.

• Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques : Encourage students to engage in mindfulness practices, such as deep breathing exercises or meditation, to alleviate stress and improve concentration. Taking short breaks to relax and clear the mind can enhance overall well-being and cognitive performance.

• Seek Support : Teachers, parents, and school counselors play an essential role in supporting students. Create an open and supportive environment where students feel comfortable expressing their concerns and seeking help when needed.

How Healium is Helping in Schools

We find it gratifying to not only explore the impact of homework on stress levels but also to take part in the solution. Our innovative mental fitness tool is playing a role in teaching students how to learn to self-regulate their stress and downshift in a drugless way. Schools implementing Healium have seen improvements in student outcomes, from supporting dysregulated students and ADHD challenges to empowering students with body awareness and learning to self-regulate stress . Here’s one of their stories. 

By providing students with the tools they need to self-manage stress and anxiety, we represent a forward-looking approach to education that prioritizes the holistic development of every student. Healium equips students with vital skills that will serve them well beyond the classroom. 

To learn more about how Healium works, watch the video below!

About the Author

Sarah Hill , a former interactive TV news journalist at NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates in Missouri, gained recognition for pioneering interactive news broadcasting using Google Hangouts. She is now the CEO of Healium, the world’s first biometrically powered VR/AR channel, helping those with stress, anxiety, insomnia, and other struggles through biofeedback storytelling. With patents, clinical validation, and over seven million views, she has reshaped the landscape of immersive media.

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March 13, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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Study tracks shifts in student mental health during college

by Dartmouth College

A four-year study by Dartmouth researchers captures the most in-depth data yet on how college students' self-esteem and mental health fluctuates during their four years in academia, identifying key populations and stressors that the researchers say administrators could target to improve student well-being.

The study also provides among the first real-time accounts of how the coronavirus pandemic affected students' behavior and mental health. The stress and uncertainty of COVID-19 resulted in long-lasting behavioral changes that persisted as a "new normal" even as the pandemic diminished, including feeling more stressed, less socially engaged, and sleeping more.

The researchers tracked more than 200 Dartmouth undergraduates in the classes of 2021 and 2022 for all four years of college. Students volunteered to let a specially developed app called StudentLife tap into the sensors that are built into smartphones. The app cataloged their daily physical and social activity , how long they slept, their location and travel, the time they spent on their phone, and how often they listened to music or videos. Students also filled out weekly behavioral surveys, and selected students gave post-study interviews.

The study—which is the longest mobile-sensing study ever conducted—is published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies .

The researchers will present it at the Association of Computing Machinery's UbiComp/ISWC 2024 conference in Melbourne, Australia, in October. The team made their anonymized data set publicly available —including self-reports, surveys, and phone-sensing and brain-imaging data—to help advance research into the mental health of students during their college years.

Andrew Campbell, the paper's senior author and Dartmouth's Albert Bradley 1915 Third Century Professor of Computer Science said that the study's extensive data reinforces the importance of college and university administrators across the country being more attuned to how and when students' mental well-being changes during the school year.

"For the first time, we've produced granular data about the ebb and flow of student mental health. It's incredibly dynamic—there's nothing that's a steady state through the term, let alone through the year," he said. "These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most."

First-year and female students are especially at risk for high anxiety and low self-esteem , the study finds. Among first-year students, self-esteem dropped to its lowest point in the first weeks of their transition from high school to college but rose steadily every semester until it was about 10% higher by graduation.

"We can see that students came out of high school with a certain level of self-esteem that dropped off to the lowest point of the four years. Some said they started to experience 'imposter syndrome' from being around other high-performing students," Campbell said. "As the years progress, though, we can draw a straight line from low to high as their self-esteem improves. I think we would see a similar trend class over class. To me, that's a very positive thing."

Female students—who made up 60% of study participants—experienced, on average, 5% greater stress levels and 10% lower self-esteem than male students. More significantly, the data show that female students tended to be less active, with male students walking 37% more often.

Sophomores were 40% more socially active compared to their first year, the researchers report. However, these students also reported feeling 13% more stressed than during their first year as their workload increased, they felt pressure to socialize, or as first-year social groups dispersed.

One student in a sorority recalled that having pre-arranged activities "kind of adds stress as I feel like I should be having fun because everyone tells me that it is fun." Another student noted that after the first year," students have more access to the whole campus, and that is when you start feeling excluded from things."

In a novel finding, the researchers identify an "anticipatory stress spike" of 17% experienced in the last two weeks of summer break. While still lower than mid-academic year stress, the spike was consistent across different summers.

In post-study interviews, some students pointed to returning to campus early for team sports. Others specified reconnecting with family and high school friends during their first summer home, saying they felt "a sense of leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of these long-standing friendships" as the break ended, the researchers report.

"This is a foundational study," said Subigya Nepal, first author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in Campbell's research group. "It has more real-time granular data than anything we or anyone else has provided before. We don't know yet how it will translate to campuses nationwide, but it can be a template for getting the conversation going."

The depth and accuracy of the study data suggest that mobile-sensing software could eventually give universities the ability to create proactive mental-health policies specific to certain student populations and times of year, Campbell said.

For example, a paper Campbell's research group published in 2022 based on StudentLife data showed that first-generation students experienced lower self-esteem and higher levels of depression than other students throughout their four years of college.

"We will be able to look at campus in much more nuanced ways than waiting for the results of an annual mental health study and then developing policy," Campbell said. "We know that Dartmouth is a small and very tight-knit campus community. But if we applied these same methods to a college with similar attributes, I believe we would find very similar trends."

Weathering the pandemic

When students returned home at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers found that self-esteem actually increased during the pandemic by 5% overall and by another 6% afterward when life returned closer to what it was before. One student suggested in their interview that getting older came with more confidence. Others indicated that being home led to them spending more time with friends, talking on the phone, on social media, or streaming movies together.

The data show that phone usage—measured by the duration a phone was unlocked—indeed increased by nearly 33 minutes, or 19%, during the pandemic, while time spent in physical activity dropped by 52 minutes, or 27%. By 2022, phone usage fell from its pandemic peak to just above pre-pandemic levels, while engagement in physical activity had recovered to exceed the pre-pandemic period by three minutes.

Despite reporting higher self-esteem, students' feelings of stress increased by more than 10% during the pandemic. Since the pandemic, stress fell by less than 2% of its pandemic peak, indicating that the experience had a lasting impact on student well-being, the researchers report.

In early 2021, as students returned to campus, the reunion with friends and community was tempered by an overwhelming concern of the still-rampant coronavirus. "There was the first outbreak in winter 2021 and that was terrifying," one student recalls. Another student adds, "You could be put into isolation for a long time even if you did not have COVID. Everyone was afraid to contact-trace anyone else in case they got mad at each other."

Female students were especially concerned about the coronavirus, on average 13% more than male students. "Even though the girls might have been hanging out with each other more, they are more aware of the impact," one female student reported. "I actually had COVID and exposed some friends of mine. All the girls that I told tested as they were worried. They were continually checking up to make sure that they did not have it and take it home to their family."

Students still learning remotely had social levels 16% higher than students on campus, who engaged in activity an average of 10% less often than when they were learning from home. However, on-campus students used their phones 47% more often. When interviewed after the study, these students reported spending extended periods of time video-calling or streaming movies with friends and family.

Social activity and engagement had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the study in June 2022, recovering by a little less than 3% after a nearly 10% drop during the pandemic. Similarly, the pandemic seems to have made students stick closer to home, with their distance traveled cut by nearly half during the pandemic and holding at that level in the time since.

Campbell and several of his fellow researchers are now developing a smartphone app known as MoodCapture that uses artificial intelligence paired with facial-image processing software to reliably detect the onset of depression before the user even knows something is wrong.

Provided by Dartmouth College

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Study Tracks Shifts in Student Mental Health During College

Dartmouth study followed 200 students all four years, including through the pandemic.

Phone App Uses AI to Detect Depression From Facial Cues

A four-year study by Dartmouth researchers captures the most in-depth data yet on how college students’ self-esteem and mental health fluctuates during their four years in academia, identifying key populations and stressors that the researchers say administrators could target to improve student well-being. 

The study also provides among the first real-time accounts of how the coronavirus pandemic affected students’ behavior and mental health. The stress and uncertainty of COVID-19 resulted in long-lasting behavioral changes that persisted as a “new normal” even as the pandemic diminished, including students feeling more stressed, less socially engaged, and sleeping more.

The researchers tracked more than 200 Dartmouth undergraduates in the classes of 2021 and 2022 for all four years of college. Students volunteered to let a specially developed app called StudentLife tap into the sensors that are built into smartphones. The app cataloged their daily physical and social activity, how long they slept, their location and travel, the time they spent on their phone, and how often they listened to music or watched videos. Students also filled out weekly behavioral surveys, and selected students gave post-study interviews. 

The study—which is the longest mobile-sensing study ever conducted—is published in the Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies .

The researchers will present it at the Association of Computing Machinery’s UbiComp/ISWC 2024 conference in Melbourne, Australia, in October. 

These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most.

The team made their anonymized data set publicly available —including self-reports, surveys, and phone-sensing and brain-imaging data—to help advance research into the mental health of students during their college years. 

Andrew Campbell , the paper’s senior author and Dartmouth’s Albert Bradley 1915 Third Century Professor of Computer Science, says that the study’s extensive data reinforces the importance of college and university administrators across the country being more attuned to how and when students’ mental well-being changes during the school year.

“For the first time, we’ve produced granular data about the ebb and flow of student mental health. It’s incredibly dynamic—there’s nothing that’s steady state through the term, let alone through the year,” he says. “These sorts of tools will have a tremendous impact on projecting forward and developing much more data-driven ways to intervene and respond exactly when students need it most.”

First-year and female students are especially at risk for high anxiety and low self-esteem, the study finds. Among first-year students, self-esteem dropped to its lowest point in the first weeks of their transition from high school to college but rose steadily every semester until it was about 10% higher by graduation.

“We can see that students came out of high school with a certain level of self-esteem that dropped off to the lowest point of the four years. Some said they started to experience ‘imposter syndrome’ from being around other high-performing students,” Campbell says. “As the years progress, though, we can draw a straight line from low to high as their self-esteem improves. I think we would see a similar trend class over class. To me, that’s a very positive thing.”

Female students—who made up 60% of study participants—experienced on average 5% greater stress levels and 10% lower self-esteem than male students. More significantly, the data show that female students tended to be less active, with male students walking 37% more often.

Sophomores were 40% more socially active compared to their first year, the researchers report. But these students also reported feeling 13% more stressed during their second year than during their first year as their workload increased, they felt pressure to socialize, or as first-year social groups dispersed.

One student in a sorority recalled that having pre-arranged activities “kind of adds stress as I feel like I should be having fun because everyone tells me that it is fun.” Another student noted that after the first year, “students have more access to the whole campus and that is when you start feeling excluded from things.” 

In a novel finding, the researchers identify an “anticipatory stress spike” of 17% experienced in the last two weeks of summer break. While still lower than mid-academic year stress, the spike was consistent across different summers.

In post-study interviews, some students pointed to returning to campus early for team sports as a source of stress. Others specified reconnecting with family and high school friends during their first summer home, saying they felt “a sense of leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of these long-standing friendships” as the break ended, the researchers report. 

“This is a foundational study,” says Subigya Nepal , first author of the study and a PhD candidate in Campbell’s research group. “It has more real-time granular data than anything we or anyone else has provided before. We don’t know yet how it will translate to campuses nationwide, but it can be a template for getting the conversation going.”

The depth and accuracy of the study data suggest that mobile-sensing software could eventually give universities the ability to create proactive mental-health policies specific to certain student populations and times of year, Campbell says.

For example, a paper Campbell’s research group published in 2022 based on StudentLife data showed that first-generation students experienced lower self-esteem and higher levels of depression than other students throughout their four years of college.

“We will be able to look at campus in much more nuanced ways than waiting for the results of an annual mental health study and then developing policy,” Campbell says. “We know that Dartmouth is a small and very tight-knit campus community. But if we applied these same methods to a college with similar attributes, I believe we would find very similar trends.”

Weathering the pandemic

When students returned home at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers found that self-esteem actually increased during the pandemic by 5% overall and by another 6% afterward when life returned closer to what it was before. One student suggested in their interview that getting older came with more confidence. Others indicated that being home led to them spending more time with friends talking on the phone, on social media, or streaming movies together. 

The data show that phone usage—measured by the duration a phone was unlocked—indeed increased by nearly 33 minutes, or 19%, during the pandemic, while time spent in physical activity dropped by 52 minutes, or 27%. By 2022, phone usage fell from its pandemic peak to just above pre-pandemic levels, while engagement in physical activity had recovered to exceed the pre-pandemic period by three minutes. 

Despite reporting higher self-esteem, students’ feelings of stress increased by more than 10% during the pandemic. By the end of the study in June 2022, stress had fallen by less than 2% of its pandemic peak, indicating that the experience had a lasting impact on student well-being, the researchers report. 

In early 2021, as students returned to campus, their reunion with friends and community was tempered by an overwhelming concern about the still-rampant coronavirus. “There was the first outbreak in winter 2021 and that was terrifying,” one student recalls. Another student adds: “You could be put into isolation for a long time even if you did not have COVID. Everyone was afraid to contact-trace anyone else in case they got mad at each other.”

Female students were especially concerned about the coronavirus, on average 13% more than male students. “Even though the girls might have been hanging out with each other more, they are more aware of the impact,” one female student reported. “I actually had COVID and exposed some friends of mine. All the girls that I told tested as they were worried. They were continually checking up to make sure that they did not have it and take it home to their family.”

Students still learning remotely had social levels 16% higher than students on campus, who engaged in activity an average of 10% less often than when they were learning from home. However, on-campus students used their phones 47% more often. When interviewed after the study, these students reported spending extended periods of time video-calling or streaming movies with friends and family.

Social activity and engagement had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the study in June 2022, recovering by a little less than 3% after a nearly 10% drop during the pandemic. Similarly, the pandemic correlates with students sticking closer to home, with their distance traveled nearly cut in half during the pandemic and holding at that level since then.

Campbell and several of his fellow researchers are now developing a smartphone app known as MoodCapture that uses artificial intelligence paired with facial-image processing software to reliably detect the onset of depression before the user even knows something is wrong.

Morgan Kelly can be reached at [email protected] .

• Mental Health and Wellness
• Innovation and Impact
• Arts and Sciences
• Class of 2021
• Class of 2022
• Department of Computer Science
• Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies
• Mental Health

Views From the Green: March 2024

The first thing he said was that he loved the fact that I was left-handed, and I didn’t really understand that at first.

How After-School Programs Can Harm Teens' Mental Health

How After-School Programs Can Harm Teens' Mental Health

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Days clogged with numerous after-school activities are detrimental to the mental health of over-scheduled high school students, a new study finds.

Researchers also found that these "enrichment' activities -- tutoring, sports, school clubs and even homework -- are unlikely to benefit students academically.

Many folks think extra study time or tutoring will lead to better grades, but the new study shows many students are at their limit, said researcher Carolina Caetano , an assistant professor of economics with the University of Georgia College of Business.

“We found that the effect of those additional activities on cognitive skills, that last hour, is basically zero,” Caetano said in a university news release. “And what’s more surprising is that the last hour doing these activities is contributing negatively to the child’s non-cognitive skills.”

U.S. Cities With the Most Homelessness

In other words, academic overload is causing high schoolers to lose out on social and emotional abilities -- well-being, emotional control, resilience and communication, Caetano said.

Caetano said it’s best to think of the relationship between enrichment activities and these social and emotional skills as a curve.

For a while, an additional hour of studying, tutoring or group activities will help students improve their academic performance.

But the more time a student spends on enrichment, the less time they have to relax, freely socialize or sleep – activities valuable for life skills and knowledge retention, Caetano said.

Lack of sleep and stress can cause students to lose whatever academic or social gains they might have gotten through enrichment activities, Caetano said.

Eventually, a schedule overloaded with academic enrichment can result in stressed-out kids suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of being overextended, Caetano said.

“You’re at the maximum of what you can acquire academically from that work,” Caetano said. “But on the curve for non-cognitive skills, you have gone past the maximum and gone into the descending part of the curve. You’re losing socio-emotional skills at that point.” 

For this study, researchers analyzed detailed data from 4,300 elementary, middle school and high school students.

The team found that elementary and middle schoolers were at the top of the curve, which means they’re facing negative returns from any additional enrichment activities.

“While they haven’t gone into a negative area yet, additional work is likely to harm them,” Caetano said.

High schoolers had the worst situation, because they’ve actually started to suffer negative returns from having too much on their plates, Caetano said.

The new study was published recently in the journal Economics of Education Review .

Opening student’s schedules and letting them enjoy more free time could help build the emotional regulation and resilience that will benefit them when the college crunch occurs, Caetano said.

“Non-cognitive skills are highly important, but people don’t always think of them because they’re hard to measure,” Caetano said. “They are important not only for future happiness, but professional success as well."

It’s important for children to hang out with other kids in an unrestricted manner to build their social and emotional skills, Caetano argued. In fact, it could prove more vital than that last little bit of learning.

Unfortunately, unless enough parents get on board, children provided more free time away from enrichment activities won’t have any other kids available for play.

“What we have here is a societal problem,” Caetano said. “There’s only so much that parents can do.”

The study doesn’t suggest how many enrichment hours are best. Caetano said parents are probably the best judges.

“I’d say that if you have signs that, as a family, you are overly stretched, you probably are in the negative returns side of the curve, and you should scale back,” Caetano said. “If whenever someone contacts you for a play date, you are always scheduled, then it’s very clear that you are overscheduled.”

More information

The University of Rochester Medical Center has more on overscheduled kids .

SOURCE: University of Georgia, news release, March 7, 2024

Copyright © 2024 HealthDay . All rights reserved.

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The Mental Health Impact of Excessive Homework on Students

By Happy Sharer

Introduction

Homework has been an integral part of the educational system for decades. While it is important for students to do their homework, excessive amounts of homework can have a negative impact on their mental health. The purpose of this article is to explore how too much homework affects mental health, what strategies can be used to manage the problem, and the role of parents in preventing homework-related mental health issues.

Examining the Mental Health Impacts of Excessive Homework

It is no surprise that too much homework can lead to stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that when students are given too much homework, they are more likely to experience symptoms of depression, including feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated, and isolated. In addition to these psychological effects, too much homework can also lead to physical ailments such as headaches, fatigue, and poor sleep.

When it comes to children, the effects of too much homework can be even more severe. Children may feel pressure to complete assignments quickly and accurately, leading to feelings of inadequacy and frustration. They may also feel like they are missing out on important social activities with their friends due to their heavy workloads.

How Balancing School Work and Social Life Can Help Manage Mental Health

Maintaining a healthy balance between school work and leisure activities is essential to managing mental health. It is important to remember that while homework is important, it should not take precedence over other aspects of life. Taking regular breaks and engaging in enjoyable activities can help reduce stress levels and improve mental wellbeing.

In addition, setting realistic expectations and creating a schedule for completing assignments can help students manage their workload. Allowing for some flexibility in the schedule can also be beneficial, as it allows for unexpected changes or delays. Furthermore, establishing a quiet, distraction-free workspace can help students stay focused and motivated.

The Role of Parents in Preventing Homework-Related Mental Health Issues

Parents can play an important role in helping their children prevent homework-related mental health issues. Talking to children about expectations and limits can help ensure that assignments are completed on time and without undue stress. It is also important to encourage communication about any difficulties children may be having with their homework. Parents should be supportive and understanding if children express feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.

In addition, parents should be mindful of the amount of time their children are spending on homework. If a child is consistently struggling to complete assignments within the allotted timeframe, it may be necessary to reassess the amount of homework given. Parents should also monitor their children’s activities to ensure that they are still engaging in leisure activities and socializing with their peers.

In conclusion, excessive homework can have a detrimental effect on students’ mental health. It is important for students to find a balance between schoolwork and leisure activities, and parents can play an important role in helping their children manage their workloads. By discussing expectations and setting limits on homework, parents can help ensure that their children are able to complete their assignments without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

(Note: Is this article not meeting your expectations? Do you have knowledge or insights to share? Unlock new opportunities and expand your reach by joining our authors team. Click Registration to join us and share your expertise with our readers.)

Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way.

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Expert Guide: Removing Gel Nail Polish at Home Safely

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