Dr. Poblete-Valderrama, Felipe

Objective: To analyze the relationship between anxiety, self-esteem, happiness index and primary school students’ academic performance in Chilean adolescents from the Biobío province. Methodology: 733 (46.1% girls; 12 (1.3 years)) public primary school students that completed the 2018 Health and School Performance Survey carried out in the Biobío province were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The BECK Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to measure anxiety while happiness index and self-esteem were measured using the subjective happiness scale and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, respectively. School performance was measured by grade point average (GPA) of language, math, physical education and cumulative GPA, and behavior associated with cognition in the school context was also considered. The relationship between mental health indicators and school performance was investigated using a one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Results: In comparison to students with low anxiety levels and high self-esteem and happiness levels, students with higher anxiety levels, lower self-esteem and happiness levels perceived themselves as having memory problems. They were also slower to solve math problems, had a shorter attention span in class and presented more difficulties in solving complex tasks, as well as being more nervous during testing. These students also got the lowest grade point average in math, language and physical education. Conclusions: High anxiety levels, low self-esteem and low happiness levels were associated with lower school performance and weaker behavior associated with cognition in Chilean adolescents. Implementing plans of emotional education and mental health could improve academic achievement.

La presente investigación tuvo por objetivo caracterizar los factores protectores de salud en estudiantes universitarios. El trabajo posee un enfoque cuantitativo descriptivo transversal. Se estudió una muestra de 99 estudiantes de educación en una universidad Chilena. Se evaluó el IMC, glicemia basal y presión arterial. Se analizó el consumo de frutas y verduras, alcohol, tabaco y nivel de actividad física. Los resultados arrojan que el 50,5% de los estudiantes tuvo valores de IMC superiores a 25, el 71,7% presentó glicemia sobre la normal, el 94,9% un bajo consumo de frutas y verduras (2,0 ±0,2) y el 77,8% presentó sedentarismo. Por lo que se puede concluir que la presión arterial y el consumo de alcohol se presentaron como factores protectores de salud. La glicemia y el consumo de frutas y verduras como factores de riesgo. El IMC y la actividad física se presentaron como factores protectores sólo en los hombres.