The Impact of Psychological Health on Academic Performance: A Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

A child’s education should prepare them to meet the challenges of the world. Identifying factors that determine academic performance is paramount as success sets a pathway for lifelong opportunities. Intellectual ability fails as the sole predictor of academic outcomes, therefore additional factors must exist. Positive emotions have been linked to attaining skills that foster academic performance (Fredrickson, 2004) suggesting well-being may have predictive value. Limited studies exist investigating the relationship between well-being and academic performance. Cross-sectional methodology is commonly employed leaving findings based on longitudinal design under researched. The present study conducted at Blackwood High School aims to narrow this gap by investigating well-being and academic performance incorporating a longitudinal design. Respondents were 327 South Australian middle and high school students (n=163 males, 164 females) who completed surveys of wellbeing and ill-being analysed against academic grades. Well-being was found to explain 5 to 6% of the variance in academic performance with the domain of Perseverance the most significant predictor. Given intelligence is a well-established predictor which cannot be taught, this finding is meaningful as Perseverance can be learnt through positive education programs. These results can be applied to positive education within schools as they offer educators an avenue for simultaneously improving the well-being of students and their academic performance. It is hoped these results will inspire further investigations and guide future positive psychology programs.