Table 5

Indirect (mediating) effects for association between early adolescent poor mental health and low educational attainment and NEET status.

	Low educational attainment								Not in education, employment or training (NEET)
	Boys				Girls				Boys				Girls
	Indirect effects OR (CI)	P value	% mediated	N	Indirect effects OR (CI)	P value	% mediated	N	Indirect effects OR (CI)	P value	% mediated	N	Indirect effects OR (CI)	P value	% mediated	N
Long-term school absences	1.03 (1.00 to 1.06)	0.06	13.66	4855	1.01 (0.99 to 1.03)	0.17	3.56	4883	1.01 (0.99 to 1.03)	0.33	2.10	3747	1.00 (0.99 to 1.01)	0.4	1.04	3890
Truancy	1.21 (1.15 to 1.28)	<0.001	86.14	4916	1.17 (1.12 to 1.22)	<0.001	45.78	4360	1.10 (1.04 to 1.17)	<0.001	17.31	3825	1.07 (1.02 to 1.12)	0.006	17.42	3788
Social exclusion	1.13 (1.08 to 1.18)	<0.001	53.97	4976	1.05 (1.01 to 1.09)	.03	13.63	4835	1.12 (1.04 to 1.20)	<0.001	20.32	3747	1.11 (1.04 to 1.19)	0.003	26.34	3854
Troublemaking	1.06 (1.02 to 1.11)	0.002	27.14	4966	1.04 (1.02 to 1.06)	<0.001	12.35	4864	1.01 (0.99, 1.03)	0.52	1.40	3718	1.02 (1.00, 1.04)	0.10	5.59	3908
Alcohol use	–		–	–	1.06 (1.03 to 1.09)	<0.001	18.46	4707	–		–	–	1.02 (0.98 to 1.06)	0.32	4.72	3930
Smoking	1.07 (1.01 to 1.12)	0.02	31.93	4762	1.17 (1.12 to 1.22)	<0.001	48.66	4833	1.04 (1.00 to 1.08)	0.04	7.26	3719	1.06 (1.01 to 1.10)	0.01	13.83	3924
Cannabis use	1.04 (1.01 to 1.07)	0.007	16.56	4703	1.12 (1.08 to 1.16)	<0.001	35.60	4985	1.03 (1.00 to 1.06)	0.05	4.98	3762	1.03 (0.98 to 1.08)	0.37	7.26	3946

Analyses controlled for socioeconomic status, ethnicity and early adolescent educational attainment.
–indicates a non-significant relationship between health indicator and hypothesised mediator; therefore, mediator analyses were not conducted.