(PS13-B31) Bidirectional Relations Between Psychological Functioning and Academic Outcomes Among College Students

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with a variety of transitions and changes, including rising rates of mental health concerns (Arnett, 2004, 2006; Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2020). The literature has established that both psychological and academic functioning are critical components of students’ lives, as mental health has been shown to interfere with students’ grades, graduation rates, and postgraduate employment (Hartley, 2010; Mojtabai et al., 2015), while poor achievement is associated with mental health challenges in college and beyond (Bruffaerts et al., 2018; Respondek et al., 2017). However, less is known about how psychological functioning and academic performance impact one another throughout the course of college. Using random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM), the present study investigated the interrelations between mental health and academics at the end of each of four years of college (Y1-Y4) among five cohorts of students. Specifically, two models were fitted such that yearly grade point average (GPA) was separately regressed on both psychological well-being and psychological distress (and vice-versa), yielding cross-lagged effects. Both models demonstrated acceptable fit across all indices (well-being and GPA: χ2(9) = 102.474, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.075, SRMR = 0.041, CFI = 0.984, TLI = 0.949; distress and GPA: χ2(9) = 69.191, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.060, SRMR = 0.038, CFI = 0.989, TLI = 0.965). Analyses identified two distinct critical periods such that 1) academic performance mid-college had a consistent and robust impact on psychological well-being through the remainder of college (Y2-Y3: β = 0.092, p = .036; Y3-Y4: β = 0.188, p = .001), with the final year characterized by 2) psychological impairments on academics (Y3-Y4; β = -0.092, p = .004). Surprisingly, academic performance (Y2-Y3: r = 0.092; Y3-Y4: r = 0.188) was overall a more common predictor in the model than psychological functioning (Y3-Y4: r = -0.092) in the cross-lagged paths. The findings have important implications for future research to illuminate the structural and systemic barriers that impede access to university-based mental health and academic supports for students with historically minoritized identities, as well as for universities to begin to dismantle these barriers so that they can care for the whole student.