Anxiety, Low Self-Esteem and a Low Happiness Index Are Associated with Poor School Performance in Chilean Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Rafael Zapata-Lamana,Igor Cigarroa,Jessica Ibarra-Mora,Jaime Vásquez-Gómez,Cristian Sanhueza-Campos,Marcia Stuardo-Álvarez,Felipe Poblete-Valderrama,Nicole Lasserre-Laso,Daniel Reyes-Molina,Maria Antonia Parra-Rizo,Marcela Mardones-Contreras,Fanny Petermann-Rocha

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111685

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the relationship between anxiety, self-esteem, happiness index and primary school students’ academic performance in Chilean adolescents from the Biobío province. Methodology: 733 (46.1% girls; 12 (1.3 years)) public primary school students that completed the 2018 Health and School Performance Survey carried out in the Biobío province were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The BECK Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to measure anxiety while happiness index and self-esteem were measured using the subjective happiness scale and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, respectively. School performance was measured by grade point average (GPA) of language, math, physical education and cumulative GPA, and behavior associated with cognition in the school context was also considered. The relationship between mental health indicators and school performance was investigated using a one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Results: In comparison to students with low anxiety levels and high self-esteem and happiness levels, students with higher anxiety levels, lower self-esteem and happiness levels perceived themselves as having memory problems. They were also slower to solve math problems, had a shorter attention span in class and presented more difficulties in solving complex tasks, as well as being more nervous during testing. These students also got the lowest grade point average in math, language and physical education. Conclusions: High anxiety levels, low self-esteem and low happiness levels were associated with lower school performance and weaker behavior associated with cognition in Chilean adolescents. Implementing plans of emotional education and mental health could improve academic achievement.

Highlights

High-quality education is the ethical threshold by which those who work in teaching operate daily
It was noted that participants with higher anxiety levels and lower happiness and self-esteem levels got—on average—lower grade point averages and lower average grades in math, language and physical education. These findings contribute to the local information and support existing evidence relating to lower levels of self-esteem, happiness index, higher anxiety levels, and lower school performance
It becomes the most up-to-date evidence that accounts for the relationship between anxiety, self-esteem, happiness, and schoolchildren’s school performance from Chilean public educational centers

Summary

Introduction

High-quality education is the ethical threshold by which those who work in teaching operate daily. Their impact on school performance—have been two fields of interest for educational specialists [3] Previous studies in these areas have shown that student anxiety, self-esteem and depression are related to the concept of well-being and—more broadly—to the mental health concept accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO) [4]. In this regard, anxiety is an aversive psychological state that occurs when the level of perceived threat is considered high [5]. Anxiety is an aversive psychological state that occurs when the level of perceived threat is considered high [5] The latter can have physiological [6], cognitive [7], behavioral and emotional effects on people [8,9], affecting academic performance, especially during demanding tasks in terms of attention [5,10]. Better happiness is essential to the overall development of an individual, and when life in general is good, people will feel happy and well [12,13]

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Conclusion