Chapter 4: A Factitious Inheritance: The Main Family Factors Influencing Young People’s Mental Health and Academic Performance

Young university students face a number of challenges and factors that affect their mental health, and the number of mental health problems in an academic context has been increasing in some countries, such as the United Kingdom. The family plays a key role that can be both positive and negative in the mental health of individuals, serving as a protective social environment against external stressors, or conversely, as an internal factor that negatively affects the well-being of young university students. The aim of this article is to understand which factors in the family context affect the mental health of young people, influencing their academic performance, which led to a qualitative investigation through bibliographic research and collection and documentary analysis. Based on this analysis, it is possible to conclude that family structure, environment, processes and factors have direct effects (positive and negative) on the mental health of young university students, with consequent repercussions on their academic performance.