What is it about?
Drawing on children’s and caregivers’ perspectives on children’s happiness at school, our study tracked 252 5-year-old children and their caregivers over 1 year and demonstrated that happiness is distinct from the absence of mental health difficulties. Mental health difficulties at the start of school predicted poorer academic and social outcomes 1 year later, while gains in happiness over time were associated with better academic and social outcomes
Featured Image
Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Understanding how children's mental health and well-being change in the early school years can help schools support learning, friendships, and emotional well-being.
Perspectives
Our study sheds new light on the relations between children’s well-being and mental health, showing that mental health and well-being are distinct constructs in the early school years and each predict different academic and social outcomes.
Rory Devine
University of Birmingham
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Changes in children’s well-being and mental health across the early school years: Links with academic and social competence., Developmental Psychology, April 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001962.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
