Assessment of the Relationship between Mental Health and Academic Achievement among Students in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Background This study aimed to assess the relationship between mental health and academic achievements among 576 students from Astana and Aktobe, Kazakhstan. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were pursued: to evaluate the level of mental health and motivation within the studied sample, and to determine the level of correlation between the indicators. Additionally, deeper insights were attained by assessing the correlation between the indicators within the context of the field of study, age, nationality, gender, pre-university education level, and academic performance. Methods The study involved 576 students from L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, and K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University, Aktobe. They were randomly selected for measuring the correlation between the two variables. Achievement motivation was measured using the Herman Achievement Motivation Test. Mental health was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Potential predictors within the domains of the field of study, age, nationality, gender, pre-university education level, and academic performance were identified for the correlational analysis of the two indicators. Results The study revealed a significant negative correlation between students’ achievement motivation and their mental health (r = 0.0038, p < 0.05). This implies that as the level of achievement motivation increases, the value of students’ mental health decreases. Analysis of the correlational relationship with sample characteristics identified substantial differences in motivation and mental health depending on specialization, age, gender, pre-university education level, and academic performance. The variables most strongly correlated were motivation and mental health with age (p = 0.004 and p = 0.001), as well as gender with mental health (p = 0.003) and academic performance with motivation (p = 0.009). Conclusions The results deepen the community’s understanding regarding the influencing factors and potential interactions with students’ mental health and motivation.