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Freshman mental health & academic achievement - Coggle Diagram
Freshman mental health & academic achievement
Background & Importance
Mental health + academic achievement
Affects quality of higher education and cultivation of social talent.
Relationship affects individual growth & development.
Mental health and academic achievement are strongly linked,
Why this study matters
Helps understand how mental health influences grades (mechanisms).
Goal: achieve a “virtuous cycle” between mental health and academic achievement.
Key Variables
Academic Self-efficacy
Students’ belief that they can successfully complete academic tasks.
Key factor in motivation and persistence.
Academic Achievement
Comprehensive evaluation: academic performance + overall quality (morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics).
Learning Adaptation
Ability to adjust to learning environment and demands.
Includes study habits, learning strategies, dealing with new tasks.
Mental Health
More symptoms → worse mental health.
Measured with SCL-90 total score.
Main Findings (Chain Mediation)
Role of Learning Adaptation
Learning adaptation partially mediates between mental health and academic self-efficacy.
Worse mental health → harder to adapt → lower self-efficacy.
Chain Mediating Effect
Mental health problems ↑ → learning adaptation ↓ → academic self-efficacy ↓ → academic achievement ↓
Learning adaptation + academic self-efficacy together form a chain that explains how mental health affects achievement.
Role of Academic Self-efficacy
Academic self-efficacy mediates the impact of mental health on academic achievement.
Better mental health → higher self-efficacy → better academic achievement.
Correlation & Prediction
Mental health problems are significantly correlated with learning adaptation, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement.
Mental health problems negatively predict academic achievement (more problems → lower achievement).
Implications / Recommendations
Develop learning adaptation
Help freshmen adapt to new learning environments and methods.
Activities: courses on adaptation, group counseling, skills for time management and study strategies.
Strengthen academic self-efficacy
Use positive psychology: feedback, opportunities for success, goal setting.
Help students build confidence in their ability to complete tasks and achieve good grades.
Improve students’ mental health
Mental health is an important predictor of academic performance.
Universities should offer mental health education, counseling, crisis intervention, and regular mental health surveys.
Use of technology / AI
AI-based systems to monitor emotions, give early warnings, and provide support.
Participants & Measures
Participants
Ages ~17–20, mostly male and from rural areas.
3,871 freshmen from a higher vocational college in Hebei Province (China).
Measures (Scales)
SCL-90 → Mental health problems (higher score = more problems, worse mental health).
CCSAS (China College Student Adjustment Scale) → Learning adaptation (and other adaptations; in this study they use the learning adaptation dimension).
ASES (Academic Self-efficacy Scale) → confidence in learning ability and behavior.
Basic Quality Assessment → indicator of academic achievement (grades + comprehensive quality in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics).
Research Hypotheses
H2: Mediating role of learning adaptation
Learning adaptation mediates between mental health and academic achievement.
H3: Mediating role of academic self-efficacy
Academic self-efficacy mediates between mental health and academic achievement.
H1: Mental health → academic achievement
Mental health predicts academic achievement (worse mental health → lower achievement).
H4: Chain mediation
Mental health → learning adaptation → academic self-efficacy → academic achievement (chain mediating role).