Examining the Relationship between Academic Success, Lifestyle Factors and Psychological Wellbeing: An Exploratory Study with University Students

Abstract

In Australia the government provides financial aid for eligible university students. However, after the consensus date has passed the government cannot withdraw this funding, despite there being a large number of students who are failing and withdrawing from their studies. Examining the factors that predict students’ academic success can be beneficial in providing tailored support services for students struggling academically, which in turn may reduce unnecessary government expenditure. The Big 5 Model of Personality, and Intellectual Ability on academic success have already been explored in the literature, but the impact of factors such as lifestyle and wellbeing on the achievement of university students have not been well researched. The present study aims to fill this gap. First year psychology students (N = 83, age M = 20) completed questionnaires that comprised of the OCEANIC scale, and the APM-short form to measure personality traits and intellectual ability respectively. Self-report information was also gained about the various lifestyle factors: alcohol and drugs, employment and primary caregiver hours, dietary habits, daytime sleepiness, physical activity; and also wellbeing: depression, anxiety and stress. Academic success was measured using the students’ final grade for their psychology course. As expected, conscientiousness, openness, and intellectual ability were found to be significant predictors of academic success. Surprisingly, physical activity showed a significant, negative correlation with final grade, and all other lifestyle and wellbeing factors demonstrated no significant associations with final grade. These results were unexpected but nonetheless demonstrate the need to further explore the predictors of academic success.