Subjective well-being and psychopathology symptoms: mental health profiles and their relations with academic achievement in brazilian children

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the differences in children’s academic achievement considering their mental health profiles. Previous studies have started to seek those differences. However, it is not clear what are the academic achievement differences considering distinct children’s mental health profile. We used a cross-sectional study sample of 273 students from an elementary school (6–11 years of age) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Mental health profiles were empirically investigated using latent class analysis by combining a subjective well-being measure and a psychopathology symptom screening. Standardized tests and school grades were considered to assess academic achievement. Findings reveal an empirical division of the sample into four mental health groups. The adjusted analysis revealed that the group with a high level of symptoms, despite having high subjective well-being, had lower levels of academic achievement when compared with the other groups, which have low to moderate levels of psychopathology. Present findings support the idea that psychopathology is a detrimental factor for educational achievement regardless of the levels of wellbeing.