Correlation between emotional health and academic performance

Dr. Winnie Tang January 01, 2025 22:10

What can we learn from the latest research which shows a positive relationship between mental health and academic achievement?

In view of the sharp increase in student suicide cases in recent years, the Government has allocated additional resources in mental health, such as the cross-departmental collaboration among the Education Bureau, the Social Welfare Department and the Health Bureau, to implement a three-tier school-based emergency response mechanism in all secondary schools in Hong Kong by the end of 2023, integrating schools’ multi-professional teams, off-campus support network and medical services to identify high-risk students at an early stage. The implementation of the 4Rs Charter is another effort to promote mental health (i.e. rest, relaxation, relationships and resilience) among students, staff and parents in the right direction, the effectiveness remains to be seen.

At the same time, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has been organising the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for many years, believes that there is a strong correlation between emotional health and academic achievement.

In 2019, the OECD conducted a new survey to examine whether there is a relationship between students' emotional temperament, academic performance and key life outcomes, and found that there was a positive correlation, with traits such as "achievement motivation”, "persistence" and "curiosity" being the three most prominent aspects.

The Survey on Social and Emotional Skills measures 70,000 10- and 15-year-old students in five areas: task performance skills (persistence, responsibility, self-control and achievement motivation); emotional regulation skills (stress-resistance, emotional control and optimism); engaging with others skills (assertiveness, sociability and energy); open-mindedness skills (curiosity, creativity and tolerance); and collaboration skills (empathy and trust).

In the second survey held in 2023, students from 16 cities in China, Japan, India, Italy, Finland, and the United Arab Emirates were compared in mathematics, reading, and art.

In Helsinki, Finland, for example, students performed significantly better than the average of the 16 cities in a number of areas, especially in terms of persistence, curiosity, and trust. For students from Jinan, Shandong Province, their curiosity was similar to the average, but their persistence and achievement motivation were significantly lower than the average. As for Gunma Prefecture in Japan, students who have been disadvantaged are particularly lacking in curiosity compared to those with abundant resources.

The study believes that students who have a high motivation to achieve and possess perseverance, curiosity and a sense of responsibility are more likely to complete post-secondary education and take up management or professional jobs by the age of 30.

These conclusions certainly need to be studied and analysed more rigorously, but the pandemic and the rapid pace of life have undoubtedly taken a toll on our mental and emotional well-being, especially among young people. We need to fine-tune our lifestyle and schedule, and we can also consider participating in volunteer services with our children to deepen their understanding of the community, so as to enhance their resilience, cultivate a sense of responsibility and promote good interpersonal relationships, which will not only improve their academic performance, but also help them move towards a healthier life.

Dr. Winnie Tang

Adjunct Professor, School of Computing and Data Science;Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong