Relations between students’ well-being and academic achievement: evidence from Swedish compulsory school

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate students’ psychological, cognitive, and social well-being in 6th Grade and the relations to academic achievement in compulsory school, as measured by grades in 9th Grade. Due to reports from Swedish authorities and research, students’ self-reported well-being has decreased during the last decade. Data from the Swedish longitudinal project Evaluation Through Follow-up was analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. By using data from two birth cohorts (1998: N = 7 684 and 2004: N = 9 437), differences in well-being across the two cohorts could be investigated. Cognitive ability, parental education, and gender were also accounted for. Statistically significant cohort and gender differences were found, where cohort 2004 was disadvantaged in all three well-being dimensions, and girls were disadvantaged in psychological and social well-being. Psychological well-being was negatively related to academic achievement, indicating that students who experienced more school-related stress performed higher than students who experienced less stress. Cognitive well-being was positively related to academic achievement. Possible causes of the decrease in well-being may be changes in the educational and assessment system, which meant that cohort 2004 went through compulsory school with a stronger focus on results and grades than earlier cohorts.

Library Support: Implications on Student Well-being

“…This indicates that they hold a positive self-perception regarding their mental state, alertness, and clarity of mind. This result is consistent with the findings of Klapp et al (2023), which demonstrated that students with higher cognitive abilities were more likely to have confidence in their ability to complete routine academic tasks and were less likely to experience anxiety regarding assignments and tests.…”

Impact of social media usage on academic performance of university students: Mediating role of mental health under a cross‐sectional study in Bangladesh

“…Issues in measuring academic performance also arise when attempting to forecast future academic performance based on prior success as demonstrated by current performance 6 . Furthermore, a lot of studies show that aspects of students' health, such as nutritional issues, physical activity, financial condition, stress level, and social support, have an impact on their academic performance and contribute to their overall grade point average 7 . Many universities in Pakistan and other countries utilize the Grade Point Average (GPA) system as a measure of student achievement 8 .…”

“… 6 Furthermore, a lot of studies show that aspects of students' health, such as nutritional issues, physical activity, financial condition, stress level, and social support, have an impact on their academic performance and contribute to their overall grade point average. 7 Many universities in Pakistan and other countries utilize the Grade Point Average (GPA) system as a measure of student achievement. 8 University officials, staff members, and students must identify and improve factors that could lower barriers to reaching and maintaining the necessary GPA.…”

The relationships between teachers’ emotional health and stress coping

“…Well-being is determined by several interacting social, psychological, and biological factors as well as general levels of health and illness ( Klapp et al, 2023 ). Indeed, ‘well-being’ is part of the concept of health and is related to physical, mental, and social health.…”