mental health because of homework

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

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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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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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Adolescence

How to Help a Teen Out of a Homework Hole

The more students fall behind in the pandemic, the less likely they are to feel that they can catch up.

By Lisa Damour

Pandemic school is taking its toll on students, especially teens. A recent study , conducted by NBC News and Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education, found that 50 percent more kids in high school report feeling disengaged from school this year than last. In December, Education Week reported that schools were seeing “ dramatic increases in the number of failing or near-failing grades ” on report cards.

A major symptom of school disengagement is not turning in homework, a problem that can easily snowball. The further students fall behind, the more overwhelmed they often become and the less likely they are to feel that they can catch up .

The good news is that finding out about missing homework is a first step to helping kids get back on track. You just need to keep a few considerations in mind.

Empathy will get you further than anger

At this point in the pandemic, finding out that your child has let schoolwork slide may trigger an angry response. Everyone is worn down by the demands of pandemic life and many parents are already operating on their last nerve . Getting mad, however, is likely to cause kids to adopt a defensive or minimizing stance. Instead, try to be compassionate. What students who have fallen behind need most are problem-solving partners who want to understand what they are going through.

If you’re having trouble summoning your empathy, bear in mind that there are many good reasons a student could fall off pace this year. For instance, Ned Johnson, a professional tutor and co-author of the book “The Self-Driven Child,” noted that most teens have very little experience managing email, which is now a main source of information for those in remote or hybrid arrangements. “We know how overwhelmed we as adults are by email. Imagine not being comfortable with it, and then suddenly getting everything — from Zoom links to assignments — that way.”

Some students learning remotely may also have unreliable broadband service; others may miss key information because their attention is split between the teacher on the screen and distractions at home.

“Many adults are having the exact same issues,” said Ellen Braaten, a psychologist and the executive director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. “They are really productive when they can physically be at work, but may find themselves less attentive in the unstructured environment of working from home.”

Even teens who are attending school in person and using familiar systems for tracking assignments may be having a hard time managing their work now. The mental skills that help us stay organized — commonly called executive functioning — are being undermined by psychological stress, which is unusually high among today’s teens.

Work together to diagnose the problem

Finding out that your child is in academic trouble can tempt you to jump to solutions. It’s best, however, to properly diagnose the problem before trying to address it. Liz Katz, assistant head for school partnership at One Schoolhouse, an online supplemental school, suggested looking into the reasons students fall behind at school. Some don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing, others know and aren’t doing it, and still others “are doing their best and just can’t meet expectations.”

As you talk with a teenager about where things have gone off the rails, be kind, curious and collaborative. “This isn’t about you being in trouble or getting off the hook,” you might say. “It’s simply about figuring out what’s going wrong so we can solve the right problem.”

Students who are struggling to keep track of what’s expected of them may need to reach out to their teachers, either for clarification about specific assignments or for general guidance on where and when they should be looking for information about homework. As a parent or caregiver, you can coach them on how to approach their instructors. Start by pointing out that teachers are almost always eager to lend support to students who seek it. You can also offer to give feedback on a draft email to an instructor explaining where the student got lost and what they have already tried.

“For many students, the ability to ask for help is not fully formed,” said Ms. Katz, “or it can feel like an admission that they’ve done something wrong. Normalizing and praising self-advocacy is so important.”

For students who know what they’re supposed to do but aren’t doing it, other approaches make sense. They may be having a hard time sustaining motivation and need support on that front , or they may be swamped with commitments, such as caring for younger siblings, that make it impossible to complete their schoolwork. Here, parents and students will want to work together to make a realistic plan for addressing the biggest priorities in light of these circumstances. This might mean coming to an agreement about where the teen’s energies should be directed or exploring what additional support might be put in place.

In some cases, academic problems may be linked to issues with mental health. If there’s a question of whether a student is suffering from depression or anxiety; using drugs; or exhibiting any other significant emotional or behavioral concern, check in with the school counselor or family doctor for a proper assessment. Treatment should always take precedence over schoolwork. “If you’re depressed,” Dr. Braaten said, “no amount of executive function coaching is going to help, because that’s not the issue.”

Some students have subtle learning or attention disorders that became an issue only when school went online. Under regular conditions, said Mr. Johnson, instructors can notice when a student is tuning out and bring back his or her attention in a gentle way. Unfortunately, “Teachers really can’t do that effectively on Zoom.” If this is a concern, parents should consider checking in with teachers or their school’s learning support staff to get their read on the problem and advice for how to move forward.

Step back to see the big picture

“We all need to be easier on ourselves,” Dr. Braaten said, “and to sort through what students really need to do and what they don’t.” Well-meaning parents might hope to motivate students by emphasizing the importance of high grades, but that can make it harder for kids to recover from a substantial setback.

As students start to work their way back, give some thought to how comprehensive their turnaround needs to be. Do they really need to get equally high grades in every class? Could they instead direct their energy toward getting square with the courses they care about most? Could they work with their teachers to agree upon trimmed-down assignments for partial credit? According to Mr. Johnson, “Lowering expectations, for now , can actually help kids to get back on track.”

Dr. Braaten also noted that much of what students gain from school is not about content, but about learning how to solve problems. Engaging teens in constructive conversations to figure out how they fell behind can be an important lesson unto itself. “Having a 16-year-old who understands, ‘When I’m stressed, this is how I react,’” says Dr. Braaten, “may put us further ahead in the long run.”

In any school year, students learn a great deal beyond academic content. This year, more than most, might be one where students gain a deep understanding of how they respond when feeling overwhelmed and how to ask for help or rebound from setbacks — lessons that they will draw on long after the pandemic is gone.

Lisa Damour is a psychologist and the author of the New York Times best sellers “Untangled” and “Under Pressure.” Dr. Damour also co-hosts the podcast “Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Parenting.” More about Lisa Damour

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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.

Homework as a Mental Health Concern It's time for an in depth discussion about homework as a major concern for those pursuing mental health in schools. So many problems between kids and their families, the home and school, and students and teachers arise from conflicts over homework. The topic is a long standing concern for mental health practitioners, especially those who work in schools. Over the years, we have tried to emphasize the idea that schools need to ensure that homework is designed as "motivated practice," and parents need to avoid turning homework into a battleground. These views are embedded in many of the Center documents. At this time, we hope you will join in a discussion of what problems you see arising related to homework and what you recommend as ways to deal with such problems, what positive homework practices you know about, and so forth. Read the material that follows, and then, let us hear from you on this topic. Contact: [email protected] ######################### As one stimulus, here's a piece by Sharon Cromwell from Education World prepared for teachers " The Homework Dilemma: How Much Should Parents Get Involved? " http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr053.shtml . What can teachers do to help parents help their children with homework? Just what kind of parental involvement -- and how much involvement -- truly helps children with their homework? The most useful stance parents can take, many experts agree, is to be somewhat but not overly involved in homework. The emphasis needs to be on parents' helping children do their homework themselves -- not on doing it for them. In an Instructor magazine article, How to Make Parents Your Homework Partner s, study-skills consultant Judy Dodge maintains that involving students in homework is largely the teacher's job, yet parents can help by "creating a home environment that's conducive to kids getting their homework done." Children who spend more time on homework, on average, do better academically than children who don't, and the academic benefits of homework increase in the upper grades, according to Helping Your Child With Homework , a handbook by the Office of Education Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. The handbook offers ideas for helping children finish homework assignments successfully and answers questions that parents and people who care for elementary and junior high school students often ask about homework. One of the Goals 2000 goals involves the parent/school relationship. The goal reads, "Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children." Teachers can pursue the goal, in part, by communicating to parents their reasons for assigning homework. For example, the handbook states, homework can help children to review and practice what they have learned; prepare for the next day's class; use resources, such as libraries and reference materials; investigate topics more fully than time allows in the classroom. Parents can help children excel at homework by setting a regular time; choosing a place; removing distractions; having supplies and resources on hand; monitoring assignments; and providing guidance. The handbook cautions against actually doing the homework for a child, but talking about the assignment so the child can figure out what needs to be done is OK. And reviewing a completed assignment with a child can also be helpful. The kind of help that works best depends, of course, partly on the child's age. Elementary school students who are doing homework for the first time may need more direct involvement than older students. HOMEWORK "TIPS" Specific methods have been developed for encouraging the optimal parental involvement in homework. TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) Interactive Homework process was designed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and teachers in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to meet parents' and teachers' needs, says the Phi Delta Kappa Research Bulletin . The September 1997 bulletin reported the effects of TIPS-Language Arts on middle-grade students' writing skills, language arts report card grades, and attitudes toward TIPS as well as parents' reactions to interactive homework. TIPS interactive homework assignments involve students in demonstrating or discussing homework with a family member. Parents are asked to monitor, interact, and support their children. They are not required to read or direct the students' assignments because that is the students' responsibility. All TIPS homework has a section for home-to-school communication where parents indicate their interaction with the student about the homework. The goals of the TIPS process are for parents to gain knowledge about their children's school work, students to gain mastery in academic subjects by enhancing school lessons at home, and teachers to have an understanding of the parental contribution to student learning. "TIPS" RESULTS Nearly all parents involved in the TIPS program said TIPS provided them with information about what their children were studying in school. About 90 percent of the parents wanted the school to continue TIPS the following year. More than 80 percent of the families liked the TIPS process (44 percent a lot; 36% a little). TIPS activities were better than regular homework, according to 60 percent of the students who participated. About 70 percent wanted the school to use TIPS the next year. According to Phi Delta Kappa Research Bulletin , more family involvement helped students' writing skills increase, even when prior writing skills were taken into account. And completing more TIPS assignments improved students' language arts grades on report cards, even after prior report card grades and attendance were taken into account. Of the eight teachers involved, six liked the TIPS process and intended to go on using it without help or supplies from the researchers. Furthermore, seven of the eight teachers said TIPS "helps families see what their children are learning in class." OTHER TIPS In "How to Make Parents Your Homework Partners," Judy Dodge suggests that teachers begin giving parent workshops to provide practical tips for "winning the homework battle." At the workshop, teachers should focus on three key study skills: Organizational skills -- Help put students in control of work and to feel sure that they can master what they need to learn and do. Parents can, for example, help students find a "steady study spot" with the materials they need at hand. Time-management skills -- Enable students to complete work without feeling too much pressure and to have free time. By working with students to set a definite study time, for example, parents can help with time management. Active study strategies -- Help students to achieve better outcomes from studying. Parents suggest, for instance, that students write questions they think will be on a test and then recite their answers out loud. Related Resources Homework Without Tears by Lee Canter and Lee Hauser (Perennial Library, 1987). A down-to-earth book by well-known experts suggests how to deal with specific homework problems. Megaskills: How Families Can Help Children Succeed in School and Beyond by Dorothy Rich (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992). Families can help children develop skills that nurture success in and out of school. "Helping Your Student Get the Most Out of Homework" by the National PTA and the National Education Association (1995). This booklet for teachers to use with students is sold in packages of 25 through the National PTA. The Catalog item is #B307. Call 312-549-3253 or write National PTA Orders, 135 South LaSalle Street, Dept. 1860, Chicago, IL 60674-1860. Related Sites A cornucopia of homework help is available for children who use a computer or whose parents are willing to help them get started online. The following LINKS include Internet sites that can be used for reference, research, and overall resources for both homework and schoolwork. Dr. Internet. The Dr. Internet Web site, part of the Internet Public Library, helps students with science and math homework or projects. It includes a science project resource guide Help With Homework. His extensive listing of Internet links is divided into Language Art Links, Science Links, Social Studies Links, Homework Help, Kids Education, and Universities. If students know what they are looking for, the site could be invaluable. Kidz-Net... Links to places where you can get help with homework. An array of homework help links is offered here, from Ask Dr. Math (which provides answers to math questions) to Roget's Thesaurus and the White House. Surfing the Net With Kids: Got Questions? Links to people -- such as teachers, librarians, experts, authors, and other students -- who will help students with questions about homework. Barbara J. Feldman put together the links. Kidsurfer: For Kids and Teens The site, from the National Children's Coalition, includes a Homework/Reference section for many subjects, including science, geography, music, history, and language arts. Homework: Parents' Work, Kid's Work, or School Work? A quick search of this title in the Education Week Archives and you'll find an article presenting a parent's viewpoint on helping children with homework. @#@#@#@@# As another stimulus for the discussion, here is an excerpt from our online continuing education module Enhancing Classroom Approaches for Addressing Barriers to Learning ( https://smhp.psych.ucla.edu ) Turning Homework into Motivated Practice Most of us have had the experience of wanting to be good at something such as playing a musical instrument or participating in a sport. What we found out was that becoming good at it meant a great deal of practice, and the practicing often was not very much fun. In the face of this fact, many of us turned to other pursuits. In some cases, individuals were compelled by their parents to labor on, and many of these sufferers grew to dislike the activity. (A few, of course, commend their parents for pushing them, but be assured these are a small minority. Ask your friends who were compelled to practice the piano.) Becoming good at reading, mathematics, writing, and other academic pursuits requires practice outside the classroom. This, of course, is called homework. Properly designed, homework can benefit students. Inappropriately designed homework, however, can lead to avoidance, parent-child conflicts, teacher reproval, and student dislike of various arenas of learning. Well-designed homework involves assignments that emphasize motivated practice. As with all learning processes that engage students, motivated practice requires designing activities that the student perceives as worthwhile and doable with an appropriate amount of effort. In effect, the intent is to personalize in-class practice and homework. This does not mean every student has a different practice activity. Teachers quickly learn what their students find engaging and can provide three or four practice options that will be effective for most students in a class. The idea of motivated practice is not without its critics. I don't doubt that students would prefer an approach to homework that emphasized motivated practice. But �� that's not preparing them properly for the real world. People need to work even when it isn't fun, and most of the time work isn't fun. Also, if a person wants to be good at something, they need to practice it day in and day out, and that's not fun! In the end, won't all this emphasis on motivation spoil people so that they won't want to work unless it's personally relevant and interesting? We believe that a great deal of learning and practice activities can be enjoyable. But even if they are not, they can be motivating if they are viewed as worthwhile and experienced as satisfying. At the same time, we do recognize that there are many things people have to do in their lives that will not be viewed and experienced in a positive way. How we all learn to put up with such circumstances is an interesting question, but one for which psychologists have yet to find a satisfactory answer. It is doubtful, however, that people have to experience the learning and practice of basic knowledge and skills as drudgery in order to learn to tolerate boring situations. Also in response to critics of motivated practice, there is the reality that many students do not master what they have been learning because they do not pursue the necessary practice activities. Thus, at least for such individuals, it seems essential to facilitate motivated practice. Minimally, facilitating motivated practice requires establishing a variety of task options that are potentially challenging -- neither too easy nor too hard. However, as we have stressed, the processes by which tasks are chosen must lead to perceptions on the part of the learner that practice activities, task outcomes, or both are worthwhile -- especially as potential sources of personal satisfaction. The examples in the following exhibit illustrate ways in which activities can be varied to provide for motivated learning and practice. Because most people have experienced a variety of reading and writing activities, the focus here is on other types of activity. Students can be encouraged to pursue such activity with classsmates and/or family members. Friends with common interests can provide positive models and support that can enhance productivity and even creativity. Research on motivation indicates that one of the most powerful factors keeping a person on a task is the expectation of feeling some sense of satisfaction when the task is completed. For example, task persistence results from the expectation that one will feel smart or competent while performing the task or at least will feel that way after the skill is mastered. Within some limits, the stronger the sense of potential outcome satisfaction, the more likely practice will be pursued even when the practice activities are rather dull. The weaker the sense of potential outcome satisfaction, the more the practice activities themselves need to be positively motivating. Exhibit � Homework and Motivated Practice Learning and practicing by (1) doing using movement and manipulation of objects to explore a topic (e.g., using coins to learn to add and subtract) dramatization of events (e.g., historical, current) role playing and simulations (e.g., learning about democratic vs. autocratic government by trying different models in class; learning about contemporary life and finances by living on a budget) actual interactions (e.g., learning about human psychology through analysis of daily behavior) applied activities (e.g., school newspapers, film and video productions, band, sports) actual work experience (e.g., on-the-job learning) (2) listening reading to students (e.g., to enhance their valuing of literature) audio media (e.g., tapes, records, and radio presentations of music, stories, events) listening games and activities (e.g., Simon Says; imitating rhymes, rhythms, and animal sounds) analyzing actual oral material (e.g., learning to detect details and ideas in advertisements or propaganda presented on radio or television, learning to identify feelings and motives underlying statements of others) (3) looking directly observing experts, role models, and demonstrations visual media visual games and activities (e.g., puzzles, reproducing designs, map activities) analyzing actual visual material (e.g., learning to find and identify ideas observed in daily events) (4) asking information gathering (e.g., investigative reporting, interviewing, and opinion sampling at school and in the community) brainstorming answers to current problems and puzzling questions inquiry learning (e.g., learning social studies and science by identifying puzzling questions, formulating hypotheses, gathering and interpreting information, generalizing answers, and raising new questions) question-and-answer games and activities (e.g., twenty questions, provocative and confrontational questions) questioning everyday events (e.g., learning about a topic by asking people about how it effects their lives) O.K. That's should be enough to get you going. What's your take on all this? What do you think we all should be telling teachers and parents about homework? Let us hear from you ( [email protected] ). Back to Hot Topic Home Page Hot Topic Home Page --> Table of Contents Home Page Search Send Us Email School Mental Health Project-UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools WebMaster: Perry Nelson ([email protected])

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

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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.

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Students Get Real About Mental Health—and What They Need from Educators

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• Student Support

M ental health issues among college students have skyrocketed . From 2013 to 2021, the number of students who reported feelings of depression increased 135 percent, and the number of those with one or more mental health problems doubled. Simply put, the well-being of our students is in jeopardy.

To deepen our understanding of this crisis, we asked 10 students to speak candidly about their mental health. We learned that the issues they face are uniquely theirs and yet collectively ours. We hope these responses will inform your teaching and encourage you to create safe classroom spaces where students feel seen and supported.

Students Share Their Mental Health Struggles—and What Support They Need

We asked these students and recent graduates, In what ways has your mental health affected your college experience, and how can professors better support you? Here’s what they had to say.

Elizabeth Ndungu, graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, United States: My mental health has affected me deeply, and I have sought therapy (which is a big thing for me, as I was born and raised in Africa and therapy is a “Western” concept). I’m a caregiver, so unexpected medical emergencies happen a lot, which mentally stresses me out. However, my professors have given me the time I need to perform my best. They’ve listened.

In general, I think professors can better support students by

Observing and reaching out to students if they notice a pattern of behavior.

Being kind. Giving a student a second chance may very well change their life for the better.

Being supportive. Remember students’ names, learn one unique thing about them that’s positive, or connect with them on LinkedIn or other social media platforms and show them that they have a mentor.

I think schools can better support students by

Admitting diverse students. Don’t just say it—do it. Seek out ways to make the school population more DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) friendly, especially at historically white colleges. Inclusivity should be everywhere.

Making DEIA initiatives a priority. If you are educating organizations’ next leaders, make sure DEIA initiatives are in each program and cohort. Each of our classes should be tied to knowledge, strategy, and DEIA and its impact.

Raising awareness around mental health. Provide onsite and remote resources for mental assistance, automate low complexity tasks that will cause stress to students, invest in your staff and resources, and ensure that they are happy. Because dealing with unhappy staff will make unhappy students.

Pritish Dakhole, sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India: Mental health is still stigmatized in India. We do not have easy access to therapy sessions, and it is a difficult topic to talk about with family. Thankfully, the scenario is changing.

I have been affected both positively and negatively by my mental health. Positively, because I have become more open-minded and perceptive. Negatively, because it has drained my will to continue, made me tired from all the overthinking, and made me turn to harmful addictions to distract myself from the pain.

Professors and schools could provide better support through

Webinars and meetings that make students aware of the issues they face and how to tackle them.

Group sessions—preferably anonymous—to remove fear.

Feedback systems so that the college is made aware of the problems that lead to a bad mental state.

Flexible education systems that allow students to take breaks during periods of excessive burnout.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan, Class of ’21, studied computer science and business administration at the University of Southern California, United States: In February 2021, I called 911 twice in the span of two weeks. I thought I was dying. I felt confused, felt like my body was about to give way, then I called the paramedics. They hooked me up to an EKG and checked my pulse. It was the first time in my life that I experienced panic attacks.

I don’t think anything else could have been done at the classroom level besides extending deadlines in extenuating circumstances. That’s the unfortunate nature of post-education institutions—you still need to make it “fair” for all students.

Alberto Briones, Class of ’22, studied operations and information management at Northern Illinois University, United States: Mental health can be a touchy subject. I have experienced depression and anxiety, but just thinking about all the things I could miss in life if I gave up is what gave me the strength to keep going.

Something professors can do to support students’ mental health is give students time to study between tests. Sometimes professors schedule tests on the same day, and suddenly students must study for three or four exams, all in the same day. It becomes overwhelming and they have to prioritize what tests they need to study more for.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar, sophomore studying management information systems at The University of Texas at Austin, United States: It is stressful to be an international student at a competitive university in a competitive major. I often find myself having breakdowns and calling my parents in a panic about my future. The relatively restricted job opportunities because of my visa status and uncertainty about whether I’ll be able to forge the career that I want are major reasons behind this.

I have noticed that a lot of my international-student friends are constantly hustling as well, since we feel that we always need to be 10 steps ahead and cannot afford to slow down.

The best thing that a professor can do for me is provide as much guidance as possible in their respective field. Most of my professors have done that. This helps weed out some of the doubts that I have about potential career paths and gives me better clarity about the future. I feel that I cannot ask for more since I don’t expect everyone to be informed of what life is like for an international student.

Schools, on the other hand, can do a lot for us, such as tailor career management resources, offer international student group counseling (I attended one session and it was very liberating), provide financial relief (this is the absolute best thing that can be done for us) during rough times such as COVID-19. For example, when millions of international students had to take online classes during the pandemic, schools could have offered reduced tuition rates.

Something else that can seem small but goes a long way is using inclusive language in university announcements and communication. Most of the emails that we receive from the university feel more tailored to or are directly addressing in-state students (especially when major changes were happening at the beginning of the pandemic), and it is natural for us to feel left out. It might be a simple thing, but a couple of lines at the end of each email announcement with links addressing our specific concerns would make a lot of difference to us since we wouldn’t have to do our own research to figure out what it means for us.

EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE DIVING INTO MENTAL HEALTH TALKS

Starting a mental health conversation with students before we are prepared can be harmful. Here’s some advice from “ It’s Time We Talk About Mental Health in Business Classrooms ” by Bahia El Oddi, founder of Human Sustainability Inside Out, and Carin-Isabel Knoop, executive director of the Case Research and Writing Group at Harvard Business School, on how to get ready for these critical conversations.

Learn to talk about mental health. Enhance your mental health literacy through free resources such as the Learn Mental Health Literacy course (specifically for educators), the World Health Organization , and the National Institute of Mental Health . Consult the CDC for language about mental and behavioral health and the American Psychiatry Association for ways to describe individuals presenting with potential mental health disorders .

Reflect on your own biases. Consider how your own story—being raised by a parent with a mental health disorder, for example—may influence how you react and relate to others. Determine your level of openness to discussing the struggles you or your loved ones face or have faced. While it is possible to discuss mental health in the classroom without these anecdotes or personal connections, the courage to be open about your own past can have a transformative effect on classroom discussion.

Understand students may need extra support. Make yourself accessible and approachable to your students from the start so you can establish trust early. Advise them to seek professional help when necessary.

Nick Neral, Class of ’18, studied marketing management at the University of Akron, United States: At the end of my first year of college, I decided to stop participating in Division I athletics and my mental health plummeted. After calling our campus counseling center and waiting six weeks for my first intake appointment, I was told I couldn’t start therapy for two more months, but I could get medication within a couple of days.

After getting prescriptions for an SSRI and Xanax, I never heard from another clinician at my school again. They had no clue if I got the meds, if I took them, how I was doing, and whether I was on campus every day.

When my mental health was at its poorest, I was very disconnected from my classes. I went to, I think, five or six out of 30 finance classes I had during the semester.

I think professors are in this mindset that 20 percent of the class will naturally excel, a majority will do well enough, and a small chunk probably can’t be saved. Sometimes we don’t need saving in the classroom, we just need professors looking out for our well-being. There’s more to the story when a kid doesn’t show up to 80 percent of their classes.

My experience—and seeing others go through similar events—led me to create a platform where therapists can create content and free resources at forhaley.com . Anyone can filter through the content based on how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their life without paying anything or creating an account.

Shreyas Gavit, Class of ’20 in the MBA program at Oakland University, United States: Mental health has affected me because I’ve been depressed and feel trapped; I can’t just go to my home country and come back to the United States whenever I need to. Instead, I have to wait on visa dates, which are a total mess.

Schools and professors could provide more guidance in understanding how immigration has been affected due to COVID-19.

Nigel Hammett, Class of ’19, studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, United States: Throughout college I faced mental stress—not only from school, like everyone, but also from many constant family issues going on back home that required my energy. At times, I learned how to push through my feelings and submerge myself in my schoolwork, although I should have unpacked my trauma and handled it in a more mature way.

Students need an environment that encourages inclusive, candid dialogue around how we are feeling. There’s a correlation between social and mental health to overall success in our respective careers.

Alek Nybro, Class of ’21, studied marketing at St. Edward’s University, United States: Anxiety shows up differently for every person. I consider myself to be high functioning. This means when the going gets tough, I dig down and keep pushing, but often to extents that aren’t physically, emotionally, or mentally healthy.

In school, I didn’t know when to step back and take a break. That’s probably my biggest regret about my college years.

Professors could help students by making everything iterative. There shouldn’t be a final grade for assignments or projects. If you want to go back and revise something for a better grade, you should be able to do so.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja, first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University, United States: There are times when I have felt overwhelmed by the number of deadlines and exams crammed into a specific week or few days. I always want to put in my best effort to study, which can lead to less sleep and more anxiety. Then college becomes more about getting through assignments and exams just for the sake of it and less about the learning.

Because of the amount of work or busy work, I have less opportunity to go out and do the things that make me feel alive and excited about life—whether it’s being with friends, exploring my city, exercising, involving myself with professional and social networks outside of school, or simply taking a walk and enjoying my day.

Students want to know that our professors and schools care. Part of that is providing an environment where we can talk about our personal struggles. I also think professors and schools should update the policies on homework, assignments, and exams. Sometimes we may push through and neglect our mental health, not taking the time to care for ourselves, just to get through that homework or finish that exam. The added pressure causes us increased anxiety; it’s no wonder today’s young people are some of the most anxious and unmotivated compared to previous generations.

What We Learned from These Students

These students and young alumni offer an honest glimpse into how mental health struggles have affected their college experiences. Although every student faces their own unique—and sometimes complicated—challenges, we are learning that sometimes the best response is the simplest one.

We must show our students that we care. So lend an empathetic ear, offer that deadline extension, and turn your classroom into a safe haven for open discussion. Your students need it.

Special thanks to Justin Nguyen , founder of Declassified Media , for connecting HBP to these students and young alumni who volunteered to share their experiences.

Help shape our coverage: These students spoke candidly; now it’s your turn. What are the biggest challenges you face in addressing student mental health in and out of the classroom? What experiences have stood out to you? Let us know .

Elizabeth Ndungu is a graduate student in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University.

Pritish Dakhole is a sophomore studying engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India.

Ocean Ronquillo-Morgan is a member of the University of Southern California’s Class of ’21.

Alberto Briones is a member of Northern Illinois University’s Class of ’22.

Anjali Bathra Ravikumar is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin.

Nick Neral studied marketing management at the University of Akron and is a member of the Class of ’18.

Shreyas Gavit studied in the MBA program at Oakland University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’20.

Nigel Hammett studied industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina A&T State University and graduated as a member of Class of ’19.

Alek Nybro studied marketing at St. Edward’s University and graduated as a member of the Class of ’21.

Patrick Mandiraatmadja is a first-year graduate student studying technology management at Columbia University.

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August 22, 2022

Children’s Risk of Suicide Increases on School Days

Unlike in adults, suicide risk among children is lowest during the summer and higher during the school year. Understanding these patterns can help prevent and treat suicidality

By Tyler Black

Amanda Montañez

Reading about death and suicidality can be distressing. Please read this in a moment where you feel safest and ready to do so.

Pediatricians, child psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers and pediatric emergency teams know something that many people who care for children don’t: we are much busier during the school year. I’m a full-time emergency psychiatrist who works at a major children’s hospital, and often when children come in for a mental health crisis, one of the main stressors they discuss is school.

I’m sure most people assume I commonly prescribe medications as a physician, but one of my most common “prescriptions” is advocating for reducing school burden and load. In a 2013 American Psychological Association survey, 83 percent of adolescents stated that school was a cause or significant source of stress . In a 2017 survey of school leaders in the U.K., 82 percent reported increased mental health issues among primary school children during the time of national examinations. In studies in 2013 and 2015, scientists studying homework in the U.S. found that primary school children were averaging 30 minutes of such work per night, while high-performing secondary students were averaging more than three hours per night, at the cost of their physical health and schoolwork-life balance.

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Whether we are talking about referrals to mental health programs for crisis, presentations to emergency departments for mental health issues, admissions to intensive care units for urgent treatment of suicide attempts or deaths by suicide, an association with school is clear. We are able to visualize this in a number of ways.

By using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wonder database to find information on pediatric (17 years of age or younger) deaths by suicide, I have created a “heat map” of youth suicide, and a school-day association is plain to see. On weekdays and during school months, there is a significant elevation of suicide deaths in children.

Credit: Amanda Montañez; Source: CDC Wonder , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Data analysis by Tyler Black

Looking at the monthly data, we can see that this elevation is not trivial: during school months, the increase in pediatric suicides ranges between 30 and 43 percent. This is in sharp contrast with adults, where we see suicide rates typically peak in summer months. 

This situation has not improved over time: Compared with summer weekends, school-month weekdays from 2016 to 2019 show a pediatric suicide rate increase of 62 percent. The increase was 42% from 1999 to 2015.

If we look at far more common events, such as emergency room visits for mental health conditions, we see a strikingly similar pattern. These data come from participating hospitals in a collection done by the CDC.

Credit: Amanda Montañez; National Syndromic Surveillance Program via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

School comes with many things, good and bad. School can be wonderful, with learning experiences, social successes and a sense of connection to others. But it can also be incredibly stressful because of academic burden, bullying, health- and disability-related barriers, discrimination, lack of sleep and sometimes abuse. I often liken going to school to a child’s full-time job. The child has co-workers (classmates arranged by hierarchy), supervisors (teachers), bosses (administrators and principals) and overtime (homework). And they have very early work hours (most schools have hours that are very incompatible with children’s sleep patterns). Of course, work can be rewarding, but it’s also stressful.

Any time I present these data to teachers, parents, principals or school administrators, they are shocked. This should be common knowledge. Pediatric suicides and mental health crisis rates increase sharply when school is in and ease when school is out. This pattern is also found in other jurisdictions, such as Japan , Germany and Finland .

There are a number of ways to potentially mitigate this distress that I wish those responsible for our children’s education would explore. Some suggestions I’d put forth:

Reduce homework (preferably get rid of it). Some of the best educational science available shows that excessive homework is of limited benefit and in fact harms children’s health and well-being.

Add a mental health curriculum. We have developed incredible educational goals for math, reading, science and the arts. There should be a dedicated pathway for a much more universal and necessary learning: how to take care of yourself; how to look out for and help others; and how to improve both the detection and prevention of mental health crises.

Take bullying seriously and don’t just focus on the bullies. The bullied and bullies often come from similar backgrounds (histories of abuse, trauma, chaos, deprivation, parental detachment, though this certainly isn’t universally the case). But whereas the bullied tend to be internalizers, the bullies are more often externalizers. Bullies who were once victims of bullying have the highest risk of having psychiatric problems in the future.

Restore funding for playtime, music and art in school and de-emphasize academic overload. Children need relaxation, comfort, beauty, fun and play. Children who have opportunities to play and rest will learn more in their academics, and they will be able to sustain their development as they grow.

End “perfect attendance” awards and goals. While problematic truancy should be addressed, there is no less realistic notion for the rest of one’s life than the idea of “perfect attendance.” We should all, from time to time, recognize when we are at our limit and need a break. Children should be encouraged to report when they can do so and be supported.

Start school later. How many more decades of research do we need to show that children need more sleep and that adolescents do better in school when the day starts later? It’s time to make serious structural changes to the early-morning wake-up times.

Be nonjudgmental and respect children’s identity and identity formation. This is not a “woke” concept. This is a caring, compassionate concept that works for all children all the time.

Recognize and address child abuse within schools. There exist (and many readers may likely recall) teachers who are abusive, punitive and cruel. In one 2015 study, 44 percent of undergraduates recalled a time in K–12 school that they labeled as emotional abuse by a teacher . And in another study published in 2019, 3.4 percent of seventh- and eighth-grade students reported teachers bullied them .

Every year my colleagues in the emergency department brace for the coming mid-September wave, as every year our mental health crisis presentation volumes double and our days become much busier. Likely not coincidentally, in my jurisdiction, school starts in the second week of September.

In the new school year, if you are someone who works with school-age children, ask yourself what you could be doing to reduce pressure or improve quality of life for the children in your care. This would truly be suicide prevention.

IF YOU NEED HELP If you or someone you know is struggling or having thoughts of suicide, help is available. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or use the online Lifeline Chat . LGBTQ+ Americans can reach out to the Trevor Project by texting START to 678-678 or calling 1-866-488-7386.

This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American .

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What to do if you're struggling with your mental health at work

Jordan-Marie Smith

Andee Tagle

When you're not in the right headspace, being at work can be difficult.

Whether it's depression, burnout, anxiety or something else, struggling with your mental health while you're waiting tables or sitting behind a desk can disrupt your life and your job.

But there's a stigma to taking time off to care for your mental health that's not present with physical health. The mindset is, "Just work, work, work, push through it and get to the other end and deal with it," says Jody Adewale, a Los Angeles-based psychologist and medical advisor for the mental health advocacy foundation, Made of Millions .

Addressing your mental health needs is important — and human. "It's not a character flaw or a character defect or a sign of weakness," says Adewale. "It's something that everyone I think on this planet will experience at one point or another in their life."

Life Kit asked mental health professionals how to spot an issue and what the options are when you do.

While we know there's no such thing as the perfect job, there are tools for both employees and managers to make work a better place to be.

1. Look for signs of declining mental health

First, check-in with your body. Are you more tense than usual? Do you lose sleep or not eat as much?

Even if you aren't the person experiencing poor mental health, you can be a good coworker by taking note of the five signs of emotional suffering.

• Personality change in a way that seems drastic
• Agitation or uncharacteristically angry demeanor
• Withdrawn from social interaction
• Poor hygiene (substance abuse or physical hygiene)
• Feelings of hopelessness

These five signs from the national mental health non-profit Give an Hour are clear ways to determine if it's time to check in with your colleague or tend to your own mental health issues, says Hassel Aviles, the co-founder of Not 9 to 5 , a global non-profit focusing on mental health advocacy for the foodservice and hospitality sector.

Burnout Isn't Just Exhaustion. Here's How To Deal With It

And you don't need to mark every item on this list – spotting even one could be a reason to check in with yourself or someone you care about. From there, do some triage and be honest with yourself.

Could it help to switch up some habits? Do you need to vent to a friend, get some more movement or minimize social media time ? Or, is it time to raise a concern at the office?

2. Have a conversation with a trusted person who can introduce you to resources

After realizing that you need help, reach out to a colleague that you trust.

A loyal and reliable coworker can help you vent or think things through. If you need more help, a supervisor might be the best person to talk to, given they may be informed about resources that could help with mental health. Human resources can be a good option as well, but be mindful that HR typically has the company's best interest in mind, Adewale says.

If your employer is retaliating against you because of your mental health condition, you can contact the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a claim.

One way to address your needs is to use the DEAR method in a meeting with HR, management or your trusted coworker.

• D - Describe the situation using facts.
• E - Express how the situation made you feel or how it affected you.
• A - Assert your needs.
• R - Reinforce the outcome and how it will be a win-win.

Part two of this method follows the acronym MAN, and will help remind you of mindset in these conversations:

• M - Be mindful of your words, and stay in the present moment.
• A - Be assertive. If you're raising a mental health issue at work, it's important for everyone involved, so stand your ground!
• N - Negotiate. Your office might not be able to shift to your ideal hours, but perhaps you could work together to set firmer boundaries for emails or start actually honoring lunch breaks. Work with your manager to find solutions.

How To Start Therapy

And remember, your boss or your coworker is not your therapist in this situation. If you get a burn or a cut at the office, you wouldn't expect your supervisor to know how to treat you, says Aviles. They are there to direct you to help.

One resource your trusted person may point you to is an employee assistance program or EAP. This is a service that many companies have. It provides employees with a handful of therapy sessions at no charge.

3. Sometimes you need to take a break

If therapy isn't enough, it might help to take time off from work. It could be anywhere from one day to several months, but taking time to process, rest, heal and seek proper treatment can make all the difference.

A good start to pursuing this option is to ask your human resources department about short-term disability leave. Short-term disability leave allows you to take time off for a sickness or injury, including your mental health

You aren't lazy. You just need to slow down

Vermont journalist Siobhan Neela-Stock took over two months off work to heal from a less-than-ideal work environment. When she tweeted about it, she was flooded with positive responses. Some were from people who want to take time off from work and other notes were from people who had.

Neela-Stock says more and more people are discussing mental health leave as a viable option.

"I guess the good thing about this silver lining is that we're, again, talking about it more and we're realizing that a lot of us are going through this. And, that there is a way out," Neela-Stock said.

4. Create a psychologically safe workplace

The quickest path to mentally healthy workers is mentally healthy workspaces.

"Psychological safety" is a term coined by researcher Amy Edmondson . It focuses on the need to create safe environments at work, where people can share how they are actually doing without the threat of losing out on a promotion or big project.

Aviles says employers and employees can create psychological safety anywhere–from an office to a kitchen. It all depends on if you're able to be vulnerable with each other.

Leadership At Work Is An Art Form. Here's How To Practice It.

Remember that It's also important to engage with your team by centering voices that are most affected by something. Employers don't need to have all of the answers, but they should be transparent and open to feedback.

One last tip: It's okay to make mistakes. In a psychologically safe environment, an employee learns from their mistakes and uses the opportunity to grow. This is the opposite of the top-down approach where the boss chastises an employee for making mistakes.

"And that is what creates innovation. That is what fosters creativity that is with us to really grow, that psychological safety in the workplace," says Aviles.

Here's a non-exhaustive list of resources for workplace mental health:

• The CDC offers a wealth of resources , including a glossary of terms and suggestions for managers.
• Did you know you can train in mental health first aid? Here's where to find training and mental health aid resources. 
• Made of Millions is a global mental health advocacy group that offers lots of training and resources. Here's their letter to your manager , and here's their global directory of resources .
• Not 9 to 5 is a global non-profit focusing on mental health advocacy in the foodservice and hospitality sectors. Their website offers a lot of great workplace mental health resources .
• Here's a breakdown of how to implement psychological safety in the workplace , from ShiftCollab , a therapy collective
• For an explanation of your rights in regards to mental health protection in the workplace, check out the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission .

The podcast portion of this story was produced by Andee Tagle.

We'd love to hear from you. If you have a good life hack, leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at [email protected] . Your tip could appear in an upcoming episode.

If you love Life Kit and want more, subscribe to our newsletter .

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Will less homework stress make California students happier?

Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups.

Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride.

While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo ’s daughter, then nine, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.

Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked her if she could make a law banning homework.

“It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”

Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while Assembly Bill 2999 — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework.

Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness , led by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon .

“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.”

The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.

The organization also reported in 2020 that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep,” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.

Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. An English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and 2024’s California Teacher of the Year , Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.

In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo says that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments.

Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said.

The bill says the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.

The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo says she has received bipartisan support and so far, no official opposition or support is listed in the bill analysis.

But she does acknowledge that, if passed, the measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent culture war disputes between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.

Nevertheless, she says she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to cut spending on mental health services for children with the passage of Proposition 1 .

Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework has raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.

“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”

This article was originally published by  CalMatters .

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Workload and Mental Well-Being of Homeworkers

In a non-pandemic setting, this study in homeworkers helps to identify the mechanisms by which employees' workload affects their mental well-being. The results show that work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement are key variables that make the effects of workload involved in reducing the homeworkers' well-being.

Based on the Conservation of Resources theory, this cross-sectional study investigates the relationship between workload experienced by employees when working at home and their mental well-being. Work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement are proposed as mediators.

A sample of 11,501 homeworkers was drawn from the sixth wave of the European Working Condition Survey data set.

Unlike the expected, the higher the workload, the higher the mental well-being of employees. However, as expected, high workload was correlated with lower well-being when indirect effects through work-family conflict, sleep problems, and work engagement were considered. Similarly, the total effect of workload on mental well-being was negative.

Conclusions

The study suggests that organizations should pay more attention to the amount of workload experienced by their homeworkers because it may be harmful to their health and well-being.

The percentage of employees working at home has risen over recent decades. 1 This way of working is called homeworking or, sometimes with slight conceptual differences, home-based teleworking. For reasons related to the COVID-19 emergency, it has been exponentially adopted in many organizations.

Scientific literature has identified several advantages of homeworking, such as homeworkers’ greater autonomy, increased job satisfaction and flexibility to deal with work-family demands, and limited traveling and time and cost savings for both organizations and workers. 2 However, in addition to benefits, literature identified social isolation, technostress, or workaholism as potential drawbacks of homework. 3 – 7 These contrasting results about homework lead to no consensus as to whether homeworking is good or bad for homeworkers. 2 , 3 , 8 , 9

A particular concern about homework is employees’ mental well-being. Recent research suggests that working from home may affect mental well-being because this work arrangement increases work/family conflicts and employees’ feelings of loneliness. 10 , 11 Furthermore, recent studies found that working from home leads to working at higher speed, meeting tight deadlines, greater work intensification, and overworking, which affect employees’ mental well-being. 12 – 14 Accordingly, in this study, we explore if workload is related to homeworkers’ mental well-being.

Research investigating how workload influences the well-being of employees is still scarce and scant 15 , 16 ; even more limited is the literature on the effects of workload on the mental well-being of homeworkers. 11 , 12 , 17 However, recent studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic observed that home workers’ workload negatively influenced their well-being by increasing their work-family conflict. 11

We investigated the relationship between homeworkers’ workload and well-being for three reasons. First, we believe it is essential to explore the relationship between workload and well-being because work conditions for homework are different from work conditions experienced at the office. For instance, homeworkers may experience more intrusions from family domains during homeworking. 18 A high workload may affect homeworkers differently than office workers and employees working remotely in other locations than the home. Second, considering the increase in homeworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic and that organizations were not prepared to implement homeworking for many or most of their workforce, 19 it is crucial to explore how workload is related to homeworkers’ well-being, to assist organizations in allocating reasonable workload to homeworkers. Third, the inconsistencies about the benefits of homeworking suggest that understanding how to enhance homeworkers’ well-being considering their workload may be a valuable research avenue.

We examined the relationship between homeworkers’ workload and their well-being by investigating multiple mediators that may influence this relationship. Thus, we based our argument on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory 20 to explain how homeworkers’ workload may significantly influence their well-being by focusing on three potential mediating variables: work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement.

Workload and Mental Well-being

Workload is the intensity or the extent of work assigned to an employee in a specific time frame. 21 Based on this definition, homeworkers’ workload can be explained as the intensity or amount of job tasks accomplished within a specific time frame during homeworking.

The COR model posits that individuals endeavor to acquire, keep, foster, and guard things that they value (such as health, well-being, and family, but also objects, such as cars or tools for work, or energy resources, such as money or knowledge) and that well-being is at risk when people perceive the threat or the actual loss of one resource. 20 , 22 According to this theory, when employees perceive or experience an increased workload, they have to use resources (eg, time and energy) to cope with it. This may result in the depletion and loss of those same resources that could have been devoted to personal commitments and social connections. This awareness causes homeworkers to experience stress, negatively affecting their mental well-being. 22

Different studies reported that workload negatively affects employees’ mental well-being, supporting the assertion made by the COR theory. For example, in a traditional work context, Aalto et al 23 conducted a study on more than 1000 physicians and found that workload was negatively associated with physicians’ mental well-being. Angioha et al 24 observed that workload significantly and negatively affected the mental well-being of 650 government workers. Other studies supported the assertion that employees’ workload negatively affects their mental well-being. 25 – 27 We argue that the same process is also valid for homeworkers since previous studies 12 – 14 found that homeworkers are exposed to higher work intensification, work at high speed to meet tight deadlines, and overwork during a limited remote work time. Therefore, based on COR theory and the review of literature, we posit that:

• H1 : Workload experienced by homeworkers is negatively related to their mental well-being.

Workload, Work-Family Conflict, and Mental Well-being

Work-family conflict is a topic widely explored in organizational literature because of its impact on individual and organizational outcomes. 28 It expresses the role conflict occurring because of incompatible demands between work and family domains. 29 Prior research has shown that the work-family conflict experienced by employees is significantly predicted by workload, 30 a result in line with the COR theory. In fact, the COR theory posits that people strive to obtain and conserve essential resources for social bonds such as family and friends. 20 , 22 Therefore, increased workload implies that individuals have to decrease the time and energy devoted to family members and family needs to meet the increased workload. Spending more time working because of a higher workload may often leave homeworkers emotionally exhausted, physically drained, and unable to have time and energy for family activities. 31 Faced with increased time and energy devoted to work rather than family, homeworkers may struggle to meet family needs, leading to work-family conflict.

In turn, work-family conflict may negatively affect employees’ work engagement. 28 , 32 A high work-family conflict requires resources to manage it, leaving workers with fewer resources to invest and diminishing employees’ work engagement. Obrenovic et al 33 explained that work-family conflict diminishes employees’ mental resources, affecting work engagement. Other studies indicated that work-family conflict experienced by workers negatively and significantly affects their work engagement. 32 , 34 In light of these empirical findings, we extend these results to homeworkers and, therefore, expect that their work-family conflict may negatively affect their work engagement.

The second corollary of the COR theory provides key cues to understand better the relationship between workload, work-family conflict, and well-being. This corollary emphasizes the spiral nature of resource loss and suggests that the initial loss of resources threatens the conservation of the remaining resources. 22 Hobfoll et al 22 explain that “because resource loss is more powerful than resource gain, and because stress occurs when resources are lost, individuals and organizations have fewer resources to offset resource loss at each iteration of the stress spiral. This creates resource loss spirals whereby losses gain in both impact and momentum” (p 107). Therefore, the initial loss of time and energy resources because of a higher workload threats the possibility to use the remaining resources, such as those related to relationships with family members. The actual loss of resources due to higher workload and the perceived threat of losing another resource, in this case, the family support resulting in work-family conflict, may gain both impact and momentum and further threaten other resources (eg, health and well-being), generating a spillover effect or what Hobfoll calls “spiral loss.” Building on the spiral loss of resources of the COR theory, we expect that the workload experienced by homeworkers is positively related to employees’ work-family conflicts, which in turn is negatively related to mental well-being. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

• H2a : Workload experienced by homeworkers is positively related to work-family conflict.
• H2b : Homeworkers’ work-family conflict is negatively related to work engagement.
• H2c : Homeworkers’ work-family conflict is negatively related to mental well-being.
• H2d : The negative relationship between workload experienced by homeworkers and mental well-being is mediated by work-family conflict.

Workload, Sleeping Problems, and Mental Well-being

According to the empirical study by Aalto et al, 23 an increase in workload may negatively affect employees’ quality of sleep, leading to sleeping problems. Similar results also emerged from the research by Huyghebaert et al, 15 who found that increased workload might lead to impaired sleep quality and consequent emotional exhaustion. A meta-analysis of 79 studies conducted by Nixon et al 35 found that employees reporting higher workload reported sleeping problems due to the stress and exhaustion accompanying high workload. Based on this literature, we propose extending these findings to homeworkers by posing that their workload is significantly and positively related to their sleeping problems.

Sleeping problems are related to decreased work engagement. 36 According to Barber et al, 36 this occurs because a good sleep quality helps replenish and enhance self-regulatory resources after being exhausted or drained. On the contrary, sleeping problems may hinder a person from restocking self-regulatory resources depleted throughout the day. Accordingly, COR theory's desperation principle argues that people enter into a defensive mode to conserve remaining resources when previous ones have been stretched and drained. 22 This implies that employees would be less inclined to invest more resources into the tasks they have to accomplish when their self-regulatory resources have not been fully replenished due to sleeping problems. 37 Hence, it is possible to expect that homeworkers’ sleeping problems may harm their work engagement.

Prior studies found a relationship between sleeping problems and employees’ mental well-being. 38 , 39 The rationale of this result is that sleep is crucial in the optimum physiological and human psychological functioning, 36 and individuals who experience sleeping problems have poorer mental well-being than individuals not having such problems. 40 In fact, sleeping problems influence people's moods and emotions, leading to anxiety and depression. 40 , 41 This scenario is fully compatible with the spiral loss of resources in the COR theory. Hence, we expect that sleeping problems experienced by homeworkers because of increased workloads would have a significant adverse effect on their mental well-being. In particular, we believe that homeworkers’ workload may result in sleeping problems, which, in turn, decrease mental well-being. Thus, we posit that

• H3a : Workload experienced by homeworkers is positively related to sleeping problems.
• H3b : Sleeping problems experienced by homeworkers are negatively related to work engagement.
• H3c : Sleeping problems experienced by homeworkers are negatively related to mental well-being.
• H3d : Homeworkers’ workload has a negative indirect effect on well-being via the mediation of sleeping problems.

Workload, Work Engagement, and Mental Well-Being

Work engagement is defined as “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption” 42 (p 74). Empirical findings show that workload decreases employees’ work engagement. 43 – 45 At the same time, the desperation principle of COR theory states that people get into a state of defensive mode to preserve resources when previous resources have been stretched and drained. 22 According to this rationale, workers would be less inclined to invest more resources into their work tasks when they feel too exhausted or physically drained due to the high workload. Hence, even homeworkers who experience the loss of resources such as time and energy due to increased workload may not be able to invest more time and energy into their work tasks, thereby negatively affecting their work engagement. Therefore, we propose that homeworkers’ workload negatively affects work engagement.

Regarding the effects of work engagement on the mental well-being of employees, Radic et al 46 suggested that more studies should examine this relationship. However, the existing research on work engagement and mental well-being found, in general, a positive relationship between these two constructs. 47 – 49 Yang et al 50 argue that work engagement is among the most significant drivers of job performance and the effort employees put into their work, thus increasing mental well-being. Therefore, work engagement should, in turn, contribute to self-development, leading to increased mental well-being. This expectation is in line with COR theory and, in particular, its second and third corollaries about resource loss cycles and gains spirals. Considering work engagement as a motivational resource, from which to obtain energy and dedication to important activities for individuals, 42 in the gain spiral, an increase in work engagement should lead to an increase in personal well-being, and likewise, a loss of engagement should worsen employees’ well-being. Based on the reviewed literature, we suggest that homeworkers’ workload is negatively related to work engagement, which, in turn, is positively related to mental well-being. Hence, we propose the following hypotheses:

• H4a : Workload experienced by homeworkers is negatively related to work engagement.
• H4b : Homeworkers’ work engagement is positively related to mental well-being.
• H4c : There is a negative indirect effect of homeworkers’ workload on mental well-being via work engagement.

Finally, considering the mediation effect of work engagement between workload and mental well-being, the direct effect of workload on work-family conflict (H2a) and sleeping problems (H3a), and also the direct effect of work-family conflict (H2b) and sleeping problems (H3b) on work engagement, we posit two sequential mediation effects:

• H4d : There is a negative indirect effect of homeworkers’ workload on mental well-being via work-family conflict and work engagement.

Research model for the study.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources.

The present study used data from the European Working Condition Survey (EWCS) conducted every 5 years, since 1990, by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. 51 The EWCS is a large-scale survey that provides cross-sectional data using random samples of workers in European countries, focusing on their work-life balance, working conditions, health, employment conditions, working environments, and well-being. 52 The Eurofound is a European Union body established by the European Council to offer better information and expert counsel on workers’ living conditions, changes in industrial relations and management among European countries, and contribute to the design and improvement of working and living conditions of workers in Europe. 52 Researchers have highly recognized the quality of the EWCS data set. 53 , 54

We used data of the sixth wave of EWCS collected in 2015, the most recently available data set as of the writing of this contribution. 51 The sampling procedure used for the survey was a multistage and stratified random sampling where each country was stratified into strata based on the geographical region and the level of urbanization. For our study, we extracted from the data set only respondents who reported having worked at home, answering to the following item: “How often have you worked in each location during the last 12 months—Your own home?” Participants that selected “never” were excluded from the study, whereas participants who selected “less often” to “daily” were included in the study. As a result, we obtained a sample of 11,501 homeworkers from 35 different countries.

The scales of the Eurofound survey used in this study are reported below. For all the scales, we reversed the data so that the higher the score, the higher the presence of the variable.

Workload: Two items, on a Likert scale from 1 (never) to 7 (all of the time), were used to measure homeworkers’ workload. The two items are as follows: “Does your job involve working to tight deadlines?” and “Does your job involve working at very high speed?”

Work-family conflict: Work-family conflict was measured using three items on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The items are as follows: “How often have you… 1) kept worrying about work when you were not working? 2) felt too tired after work to do some of the household jobs which need to be done? and 3) found that your job prevented you from giving the time you wanted to your family?”

Sleeping problems: Sleeping problems were measured using three items on a Likert scale of 5 points (from 1 = never to 5 = daily). Items required to indicate how often, in the last 12 months, respondents experienced sleep-related problems (“difficulty falling asleep,” “waking up repeatedly during the sleep,” or “waking up with a feeling of exhaustion and fatigue”).

Work engagement: A three-item version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale 55 measured employees’ work engagement. A 5-point Likert scale was used, from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The items are “At my work, I feel full of energy,” “I am enthusiastic about my job,” and “Time flies when I am working.”

Mental well-being: Mental well-being was measured using the Well-Being Index developed by the World Health Organization in 1998, popularly known as the WHO (5) well-being index. The scale consists of five items on a Likert scale of 6 points, from 1 (at no time) to 6 (all of the time). Samples of items are “Been feeling over the last 2 weeks—I have felt cheerful and in good spirits” and “Been feeling over the last 2 weeks—My daily life has been filled with things that interest me.”

Control variables: The frequency of homework has multiple effects on homeworkers’ well-being. 56 , 57 Therefore, we created a dichotomous variable distinguishing the respondents working at home less frequently (grouping together those who responded “several times a month” and “less often,” coded as 1, N low = 5821) or more frequently (grouping together those who responded “several times a week” and “daily,” coded as 2, N high = 5860). Afterward, we tested the direct influence of this variable on the dependent variables of the model.

Data Analysis

Before the other analyses, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was run to check whether each item of the research instrument saturated in the factor theoretically related to it and to carry out a Harman single factor test to check for common method bias. 58 The EFA was conducted using the maximum likelihood and the Oblimin rotation.

To assess the measurement model and the structural validity of the measures, we ran two confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), one grouping items in their expected factor and one grouping all the items in a single factor. To assess convergent and divergent validity and the reliability of the scales, we computed, respectively, the average variance extracted (AVE), the maximum shared variance (MSV), and composite reliability (CR). Cronbach alpha was computed for each variable in the study. Descriptive statistics and correlations among variables were then calculated.

Finally, the hypothesized model was investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM). We used the maximum likelihood in the SEM environment to estimate model parameters. We used Fornell and Larcker's 59 and Hair et al's 60 indications to evaluate models’ fit and to use appropriate cutoffs. Following Hair et al, 60 we favored measures such as Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) (cutoff, <0.08) and the incremental measures of Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) (cutoff, >0.90) over measures such as the χ 2 , unreliable in this case because of its high sensitivity to sample size, for evaluating the models’ goodness of fit. We used SPSS 27 and Mplus 8 to perform all analyses.

Sample Characteristics

The extraction, from the entire EWCS data set, of the employees engaged in partial or total work-from-home activities resulted in the consideration of 11,501 workers. Participants were, on average, 45.5 years old (SD, 12.9); 48% were female, and 52% were male. Employees working in the private sector were 65.5%, whereas 22.9% reported working in the public sector. The average work hours in a week, intended as the sum of work in the office and at home, was 38.3 (SD, 14.9). Three tenth of the participants (29.1%) worked daily from home; about one fifth of them (20.2%) answered having worked from home several times a week, and the remaining respondents (50.6%) worked from home less frequently. Table ​ Table1 1 summarizes the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants.

Demographic Characteristics of the Research Participants (N = 11,501)

Exploratory Factor Analysis, CFAs, Validity, and Reliability of the Scales

The EFA showed no problems with the measurement instruments: the extracted five factors explained 67.05% of the variance, and each one was composed of the expected items with good factor loadings (minimum factor loading, 0.53). Harman single factor test, which forced the extraction of a single factor, demonstrated the absence of common method bias because the extracted single factor explained only 29.37% of the variance. After these preliminary analyses, we continued with the data analysis. Although we decided to test our research model using structural equations, following Hair et al, 60 we assessed the measurement model through CFAs. In particular, to exclude the absence of a common latent factor and assess the independence of the five measures, we conducted two CFAs, comparing a one-factor model grouping all the study items with a five-factor model in which each item saturated in its expected factor. The results showed that the one-factor model had a very poor fit ( χ 2 = 25,401.97; df = 104; P < 0.001; CFI = 0.56; TLI = 0.50; RMSEA = 0.15; Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR) = 0.11). On the other hand, the fit of the five-factor model ( χ 2 = 2831.54; df = 94; P < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.04) was satisfying, implying structural validity of the model measures. For this model, all items reported saturation values in their factor higher than 0.50.

The minimum AVE score for the five scales was 0.46. Each value was greater than the corresponding MSV score (the highest MSV was 0.35). Furthermore, the square root of each AVE value was higher than the correlations between each considered variable and the other latent constructs, indicating discriminant validity. 59 All the CR values were over the 0.70 cutoff 60 and in the range 0.72 to 0.83, suggesting good reliability of the measures. Finally, according to Fornell and Larcker, 59 although AVE values were slightly lower than the 0.50 cutoff for three of the five study variables (AVE WFC = 0.46, AVE WENG = 0.49, and AVE W-BEING = 0.49), since CR was in every case higher than 0.60 (and 0.70), the convergent validity of the constructs has been considered adequate.

Cronbach Alphas, Descriptive Statistics, and Correlations Among Variables

Cronbach alphas for the five scales of the model showed values all above the threshold of 0.70, confirming excellent reliability of the model scales again. Together with means, standard deviations, and correlations, such values are reported in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Means, Standard Deviation, and Pearson Correlations Among the Study Variables

N = 11,501.

* P < 0.01.

** P < 0.01.

The average workload reported by homeworkers tended toward high values (mean, 3.56; SD, 1.74), suggesting that homeworkers reported working with moderately tight deadlines and at a high pace. Homeworkers reported having experienced limited level of work-family conflict (mean, 2.60; SD, 0.90) and limited sleeping problems (mean, 2.18; SD, 1.00). On the other side, homeworkers were in many cases engaged with their work (mean, 4.00; SD, 0.67) and in a condition of mental well-being (mean, 4.59; SD, 0.96).

Focusing on the correlations, Table ​ Table2 2 shows that workload was positively correlated with work-family conflict ( r = 0.37, P < 0.001) and sleeping problems ( r = 0.17, P < 0.001), but negatively correlated with mental well-being ( r = −0.03, P = 0.003). Work-family conflict was positively correlated with sleeping problems ( r = 0.35, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with mental well-being ( r = −0.28, P < 0.001). Sleeping problems had a significant negative association with work engagement ( r = −0.24, P < 0.001) and mental well-being ( r = −0.40, P < 0.001), whereas work engagement had a positive correlation with mental well-being ( r = 0.44, P < 0.001).

Model Testing

The hypothesized model was tested using SEM. In this model, the control variable of the frequency of homeworking was tested on the mediational variables of work-family conflict and work engagement, since no significant correlations were instead obtained between this control variable and, respectively, sleeping problems and mental well-being.

The model as a whole, with the errors of the variables work-family conflict and sleeping problems correlated to improve the closeness of the model to the reality described by data, reported an adequate fit ( χ 2 = 3022.73; df = 107; P < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.04). In addition, all the measured items reported saturation values greater than 0.50 in their latent factors, confirming the CFA results and the good validity of the measures. Figure ​ Figure2 2 depicts the model results.

Model standardized results. All the relationships are significant for at least P < 0.01.

According to the model results, the relationship between homeworkers’ workload and mental well-being was small but positive ( β = 0.04, P = 0.001; confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.06). Thus, H1 was not verified, since the hypothesized relationship is significant but, contrary to expectations, positive.

Workload significantly and positively influenced work-family conflict ( β = 0.50, P < 0.001; CI, 0.49 to 0.52; hypotheses H2a supported). In turn, work-family conflict negatively affected work engagement ( β = −0.15; P < 0.001; CI, −0.18 to −0.13) and mental well-being ( β = −0.13, P < 0.001; CI, −0.16 to −0.11). Thus, H2b and H2c were fully supported. Even H2d was supported, and Table ​ Table3 3 shows the indirect effect of homeworkers’ workload on mental well-being via work-family conflict ( β = −0.07; P < 0.001; CI, −0.08 to −0.05).

Indirect Effects of Workload on Mental Well-Being Through the Mediators (H2d, H3d, H4c, H4d, and H4e)

MWB, mental well-being; SP, sleeping problems; WE, work engagement; WFC, work-family conflict; WLD, workload.

* P < 0.001.

Regarding the hypotheses about sleeping problems, H3a was supported because homeworkers’ workload was positively related to sleeping problems ( β = 0.23; P < 0.001; CI, 0.21 to 0.25). Sleeping problems was negatively related to work engagement ( β = −0.30; P < 0.001; CI, −0.32 to −0.28) and mental well-being ( β = −0.28; P < 0.001; CI, −0.30 to −0.26), supporting also H3b and H3c. Furthermore, the indirect effect of homeworkers’ workload on mental well-being via sleeping problems was also significant ( β = −0.06; P < 0.001; CI, −0.07 to −0.06), supporting hypothesis H3d (Table ​ (Table3 3 ).

Finally, an unexpected result was observed between homeworkers’ workload and work engagement. Workload was positively, rather than negatively, related to work engagement ( β = 0.09, P < 0.001; CI, 0.07 to 0.11). Hence, hypothesis H4a was not supported, although the relationship is significant and opposite to the hypothesis. However, as expected, homeworkers’ work engagement significantly and positively affected mental well-being ( β = 0.47, P < 0.001; CI, 0.45 to 0.49), supporting hypothesis H4b. Homeworkers’ workload showed also an indirect effect on mental well-being via work engagement ( β = 0.04; P < 0.001; CI, 0.03 to 0.05) (Table ​ (Table3), 3 ), supporting hypothesis H4c.

Indirect effects were then observed even in the two serial mediations. The mediations between workload and mental well-being via work-family conflict and work engagement ( β = −0.04; P < 0.001; CI, −0.04 to −0.03), and also that one via sleeping problems and work engagement ( β = −0.03; P < 0.001; CI, −0.04 to −0.03) were significant, thus supporting H4d and H4e.

Finally, the total indirect effect of workload on mental well-being, through the multiple mediators, as shown in Table ​ Table3, 3 , was negative and significant ( β = −0.16; P < 0.001; CI, −0.17 to −0.14). Hence, the negative indirect effects of workload on mental well-being are higher than the positive direct effect of these two variables; as a result, the total effect of the relationship between workload and mental well-being, calculated as the sum of direct and indirect effects, is therefore negative ( β = −0.12; P < 0.001; CI, −0.14 to −0.10).

Lastly, the control variable of frequency of homeworking revealed significant relationships with the tested variables. Positive, although small, effects were found between frequency of homeworking and, respectively, work-family conflict ( β = 0.06 P < 0.001; CI, 0.05 to 0.08) and work engagement ( β = 0.06 P < 0.001; CI, 0.04 to 0.07).

This study used the COR theory as theoretical background to investigate the relationship between homeworkers’ workload and mental well-being and the mediating effect of work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement. In light of this approach, we expected that employees’ workload at home was positively related to work-family conflict and sleeping problems and negatively related to work engagement. Furthermore, we expected that work engagement was, in turn, negatively related to work-family conflict and sleeping problems and positively related to mental well-being.

Most of our study hypotheses were supported. Homeworkers’ workload positively affected work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and, surprisingly, work engagement and had a total negative effect on mental well-being.

The positive effect of the workload on work-family conflicts and sleeping problems was also observed in previous studies reporting the positive effect of workload on work-family conflict 30 and sleeping problems 15 , 23 , 61 in employees working at official sites of their organization. Our result extends findings observed in the official workplace to the field of homework and confirms the applicability of COR theory to homeworking. Investing time and energy resources to cope with an increased workload may result in the depletion of energy resources needed to balance work and family life and have a good quality of sleep, consequently affecting mental well-being resulting from the stress experienced from the loss of resources.

However, study findings also reveal an unexpected result by reporting a positive relationship between workload on work engagement. This unexpected finding, although small ( β = 0.09; P < 0.001; CI, 0.07 to 0.11), is contrary to the one found by Ladyshewsky and Taplin, 62 who reported that workload negatively affects work engagement. Although this result was unexpected, other studies support the evidence reported in this research, suggesting that workload may not always be harmful but, in some cases, may have a positive effect on work engagement. 43 – 45 , 63 In other words, the workload may not always have a detrimental effect on work engagement. Instead, the relationship between these two variables could be curvilinear in the homeworking context, as already observed in the usual workplace. 45

Considering that workload was positively related to work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and, at the same time, also positively related to work engagement, our findings support previous studies that identified workload both as a hindrance and a challenge stressor 44 , 63 that increases employees’ work engagement to completing their challenging work, while also impacting work-family conflict and sleeping problems that diminish employees’ energy. 43

Focusing on the relationship between workload and well-being, we point out that, although the direct relationship was small but positive ( β = 0.04; P = 0.001; CI, 0.01 to 05), the total effect of workload on mental well-being, as mentioned above, was instead significant and negative ( β = −0.12; P < 0.001; CI, −0.14 to −0.10), thus suggesting that the three mediators in our model contribute to establishing that too much workload is negative for homeworkers. Therefore, this suggests that intervening in those factors (work-family conflict, work engagement, and sleeping problems) could reduce the negative effect of the workload on homeworkers’ well-being.

The importance of those three mediators is also confirmed by the simple direct relationships they have with mental well-being. This study shows that work-family conflict is negatively related to work engagement and mental well-being, thus supporting prior studies on work engagement 28 , 32 , 34 and employees’ well-being 33 , 64 and extending those findings to homeworkers. Although other studies used different theoretical approaches, our results are also coherent with the spiral loss of resources of the COR theory. Sleeping problems experienced by homeworkers had a significant adverse effect on work engagement and well-being, consistently with previous studies conducted in other contexts. 36 – 39 Based on the COR theory’s desperation principle, homeworkers may be less inclined to invest more resources into their work task (work engagement) when their self-regulatory resources have not been fully replenished due to sleeping problems. 37 The loss of this resource, in turn, may explain the loss of the other resource, which is well-being. Thus, our study sheds light on the potential mechanism that the resource loss of time and energy due to high workload compromises sleep quality, leading to the loss of other resources such as well-being.

Finally, despite the frequency of homeworking was marginally related to work-family conflict and work engagement, this variable was not related to mental well-being * . However, we believe that this latter result is also an interesting research finding because it suggests that workers’ mental well-being is not related to the mere frequency of homeworking, but to characteristics of the task and the context in which homeworking is carried out. Nevertheless, we believe these results should be read with caution and also interpreted considering other studies that suggest a curvilinear relationship between frequency of homeworking and some worker satisfaction outcomes. 56 , 57

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

In this study, we contributed to the literature on the relationship between workload and well-being in the context of homework by simultaneously exploring the mediational variables of work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement.

From a theoretical point of view, since research on the effect of workload on homeworkers’ well-being is limited, 15 , 16 we believe our findings, framed in the COR theory, 22 contribute to homeworking literature by showing that homeworkers’ workload has, on the whole, a negative impact on mental well-being and that workload contributes to increased work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and also work engagement that, in turn, affect mental well-being. This result is coherent with the resource caravans’ principle of the COR theory, which suggests that resources, or threats of resources, do not exist individually but travel in packs. 22 Thus, workload threatens mental well-being because it affects, at least, other two aspects that can become potential stressors, such as sleep and family relations.

Our results also show that workload is positively related to work engagement and positively related to mental well-being. Considering the second principle of the COR theory, which states that individuals invest resources to protect against resource loss, it seems that employees dedicate time, energy, and mental resources to work (in other words, become more engaged in their work) to compensate the adverse effects of the workload. Hobfoll et al 22 suggest that individuals, over time, learn how to adapt to stressors and how to use their resources effectively. Thus, a possible explanation of this result is that employees know that workload negatively impacts individual and family resources and, to mitigate such effects, they increase their work engagement to manage their work tasks, complete them quickly and effectively, and dedicate the remaining time to family duties or free time.

On the other side, our study also confirms that workload as a challenging or a hindrance stressor. 43 – 45 According to our results, the workload is related to both negative (increased work-family conflict and sleeping problems) and positive outcomes (work engagement), which confirms a complex relationship between workload and employees’ well-being that depends on the mediators included in the studies. Our findings suggest that workload is not only a threatening stressor but also a resource that enhances, through work engagement, employees’ mental well-being. Montani et al 45 observed that the relationships between workload and work engagement may be curvilinear. Thus, future studies should investigate under which conditions the positive sides of homework workload are observed and how positive and negative effects of workload coexist.

From a practical point of view, this research provides some insights that may help organizations and managers coordinate employees’ work. High amounts of workload are associated with work-family conflict and sleep problems, and these threaten the mental well-being of their employees, potentially affecting their effectiveness at work. On the other hand, we guess that a moderate extent of workload, compared with too low or too high, might enhance employees’ engagement with their work, leading them to feel better and, potentially, work better. Therefore, organizations should pay attention to employees’ workload and identify and avoid to assign tasks, with a too high or low workload to favor employees’ well-being and maximize their efforts.

Our study points out that offering homeworking alone may not be enough. Organizations implementing homeworking should also implement strategies to contain work-family conflict (eg, by considering employees’ childcare needs) and sleeping problems (eg, by promoting proper sleep-wake rhythms, including working on the proper use and correct timing of homework), as well as interventions aimed at fostering work engagement. Such organizational interventions seem promising directions to ensure that workload does not affect the mental well-being of homeworkers.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

This study has different limitations. In particular, it used a cross-sectional research design, which limits the causal inferences between study variables. In addition, the cross-sectional mediational analysis may show mediational effects that exaggerate indirect effects among study variables that are different from effects observed using longitudinal studies or multiwave design. 65 To lessen this limitation, we used a large sample size to diminish biases in regression estimates because of measurement errors. 66 Furthermore, we point out that the study design does not exclude the possibility of reverse mediations between the investigated variables. For these reasons, future research may use a longitudinal design approach to more appropriately support the evidence found here.

Furthermore, another major limitation of the study is that data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there are no rational reasons to think about changes in the tested relationships, future studies should verify if, in a postpandemic scenario, the conclusions drawn may still be applicable. Finally, we point out that this study used self-reported measures. Thus, they may lead to exaggeration or understatement on the part of the participants opening up to the tendency of common method bias, which may compromise the study's validity. Therefore, future studies using multirater measures should address this issue.

The present study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of workload affecting employees’ mental well-being. Findings suggest that the workload experienced by homeworkers is related to work-family conflict, sleeping problems, and work engagement, which, in turn, affect mental well-being. This study contributes to the literature by providing new evidence on the relationship between workload and well-being, offering insights for academic research and organizational interventions on the complex relationship between workload and well-being in homeworkers. We conclude that organizations just offering homeworking without considering needs and duties when working at home are not enough to improve the well-being of homeworkers. Further work on appropriate home working conditions (eg, workload) may represent a good step forward to achieve the purpose of homeworking and improve homeworkers’ well-being. Hence, the present study offered significant knowledge and empirical evidence to help organizational policymakers and managers on the need to pay critical attention to employees’ workload during homeworking.

* Note: Although not included in our hypotheses, following the suggestion of a reviewer, we tested “frequency of homeworking” using a multigroup approach to highlight potential differences in the model in low- or high-frequency homeworking conditions. The results of this multigroup analysis are not included in this article because they confirmed that all relationships in the research model were significant and, in the same direction, in the low- and high-frequency homeworking conditions. These results are anyway available upon request to the corresponding author.

Funding Sources: No funding was provided for the conduct of this research. The publication costs of this open-access article were covered by the authors' university membership in the CARE-CRUI national contract with the publisher Wolters Kluwer for Lippincott Williams & Wilkins journals.

Conflict of Interest: Nothing to declare.

Ethical Considerations & Disclosure: This research fully respects the Declaration of Helsinki. All ethical guidelines were followed.

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Research: More People Use Mental Health Benefits When They Hear That Colleagues Use Them Too

• Laura M. Giurge,
• Lauren C. Howe,
• Zsofia Belovai,
• Guusje Lindemann,
• Sharon O’Connor

A study of 2,400 Novartis employees around the world found that simply hearing about others’ struggles can normalize accessing support at work.

Novartis has trained more than 1,000 employees as Mental Health First Aiders to offer peer-to-peer support for their colleagues. While employees were eager for the training, uptake of the program remains low. To understand why, a team of researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial with 2,400 Novartis employees who worked in the UK, Ireland, India, and Malaysia. Employees were shown one of six framings that were designed to overcome two key barriers: privacy concerns and usage concerns. They found that employees who read a story about their colleague using the service were more likely to sign up to learn more about the program, and that emphasizing the anonymity of the program did not seem to have an impact. Their findings suggest that one way to encourage employees to make use of existing mental health resources is by creating a supportive culture that embraces sharing about mental health challenges at work.

“I almost scheduled an appointment about a dozen times. But no, in the end I never went. I just wasn’t sure if my problems were big enough to warrant help and I didn’t want to take up someone else’s time unnecessarily.”

• Laura M. Giurge is an assistant professor at the London School of Economics, and a faculty affiliate at London Business School. Her research focuses on time and boundaries in organizations, workplace well-being, and the future of work. She is also passionate about translating research to the broader public through interactive and creative keynote talks, workshops, and coaching. Follow her on LinkedIn  here .
• Lauren C. Howe is an assistant professor in management at the University of Zurich. As head of research at the Center for Leadership in the Future of Work , she focuses on how human aspects, such as mindsets, socioemotional skills, and leadership, play a role in the changing world of work.
• Zsofia Belovai is a behavioral science lead for the organizational performance research practice at MoreThanNow, focusing on exploring how employee welfare can drive KPIs.
• Guusje Lindemann is a senior behavioral scientist at MoreThanNow, in the social impact and organizational performance practices, working on making the workplace better for all.
• Sharon O’Connor is the global employee wellbeing lead at Novartis. She is a founding member of the Wellbeing Executives Council of The Conference Board, and a guest lecturer on the Workplace Wellness postgraduate certificate at Trinity College Dublin.

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