Associations between Health and Academic Success at a Florida University: An Exploratory Cross-sectional Study
نویسنده
چکیده
The aims of the study were to explore the associations between college students’ perception of their overall physical and psychological health and four measures of academic performance. College students (N = 265) completed a 65-item Web-based survey in a university’s student health services building during the spring 2015 semester. Poorer psychological health was associated with seriously considering dropping out of college and missing more classes during the current school year “due to physical or psychological health reasons.” Poorer physical health was associated with enrollment in more credit hours. Students who reported a grade point average (GPA) below 2.0 missed more classes “because of physical or psychological reasons” during the current school year than those with a 2.0 or higher GPA. A longitudinal study is needed to clarify whether better health leads to more successful academic performance or vice versa and which specific health indicators play the largest role. Florida Public Health Review, 2016; 13, 91-98. BACKGROUND College graduates tend to have higher salaries, lower unemployment rates, better health throughout life, and increased life expectancy when compared to their less educated counterparts (Hout, 2012; Kena et al., 2014; Madans, Molla, & Wagener, 2004). According to the spring 2015 American College Health Association (ACHA) survey (N = 25,841), within the previous 12 months, stress (30.0%), sleep difficulties (20.0%), and anxiety (21.9%) were reported as the top three health factors that have undesirably affected individual academic performance (i.e., receiving a lower grade on an exam or experiencing a significant disruption in dissertation work) (ACHA, 2015). Additional health factors that affected academic performance included depression (13.8%), cold/flu/sore throat (14.6%), and chronic health problem or serious illness (3.7%) (ACHA, 2015). Furthermore, many students reported being diagnosed or treated by a professional, within the last 12 months, for allergies (18.7%), sinus infection (16.1%), back pain (12.0%), and strep throat (10.2%) (ACHA, 2015). Despite the fact that most of the literature linking health and academic performance has been conducted with primary and secondary school students, a few studies assessing health and academic performance in college students have indicated associations between the two (Chiang, Arendt, Zheng, & Hanisch, 2014; DeRoma, Leach, & Leverett, 2009; El Ansari & Stock, 2010; Odes & Locke, 2009). For example, DeRoma et al. (2009) found a significant negative correlation between Beck Depression Inventory II scores and grade point average (GPA) in a sample of college students. In another cross-sectional study, El Ansari and Stock (2010) determined a negative association between self-reported binge alcohol drinking and achieving good grades in college. They also found that students who reported better general health were more likely to rate their academic performance as being better relative to their fellow peers. In another study, Chiang et al. (2014) found a negative association between GPA and sleep latency (falling asleep between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.) on weekdays. Although the aforementioned literature implies some associations between health and academic performance, all of the studies used just one or two measures of academic performance and focused on specific health indicators such as depression. No study has investigated the association between overall physical or psychological health and academic performance using a variety of academic performance indicators.
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