Australian Academics Find Depression Negatively Impacts Academic Outcomes but Anxiety Can Improve Them

Stock photo of children in a classroom. (Taylor Wilcox/Unsplash)

A study conducted by the Australian National University has demonstrated that mental wellbeing of a student is a strong predictor of academic success.

The study, led by Diana Cardenas showed that though depression is a strong predictor of poorer academic outcomes, anxiety in certain cases can improve student outcomes.

The study examined numeracy and reading scores of National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessments for Year 9 students from the year 2017 to 2019 and matched their results to corresponding self-reports of their wellbeing in Year 8 from the year 2016 to 2018; Year 7 NAPLAN results were also examined as a proxy for prior achievements.

Results for NAPLAN and student wellbeing are then matched to the individual if possible, or at the school level if not, resulting in 3,400 student matches from 19 high schools.

NAPLAN is an annual national assessment for all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. The examination tests all students in these year levels in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. The research team only examined numeracy and reading as they noted that the outcomes for writing, spelling and grammar can be an unreliable marker for academic achievements.

Examination of the matches found strong correlations between depression and predicted academic results; students that scored higher on the wellbeing index were predicted with higher academic achievement.

There was also a strong correlation between depression and poorer academic success with the mental condition appearing to be “the primary driver of decreased academic success.”

Self-reported anxiety and its correlations with academic achievement predictions were also tested, though the association was not significant, however, “there were indications that, when holding depression as fixed, anxiety may have a small positive effect on NAPLAN scores,” Cardenas and her colleagues wrote.

The authors reasoned that this could be due to depression being associated with reduced pursuit and motivation based on goals, working memory capacity and distraction inhibition whilst in contrast, anxiety can under certain circumstances motivate greater engagement to avoid consequences.

In certain conditions where the students have the working memory to engage in the task, anxiety may contribute to higher results, however, the authors expressed that the relationship between anxiety and academic outcomes are still “complex.”

There are “no critical levels of depression and well-being” on where academic performance will suffer or improve most, however “all school performances would similarly increase with lower depression regardless of the current level,” the authors wrote.

“Students that experience greater subjective well-being, particularly those that have lower levels of depression, will be more likely to obtain higher NAPLAN scores.”

Though previous literature in the UK and the US have indicated that depression can negatively impact academic performance, the authors have used their findings to encourage further investments in student wellbeing in Australia.

“If we invest in improving the wellbeing of children and youth, not only will it be good for healthier individuals going forward, but it also will lead to better performance in school, perhaps a better performance outside of school,” Kate Reynolds, co-author of the study said on Sunrise.

The authors concluded that there is “compelling evidence that promoting youth well-being and students’ current [and future] performance are perfectly synergistic goals. In particular, protecting youth from depression can create a path towards better school performance and its associated benefits for the individual student and national prosperity.”

The journal is published on Scientific Reports, an online peer-reviewed open access scientific journal.