Mental Well-being and Cognitive Performance among Adolescents: A Correlational Study of Secondary School Students in Uttarakhand

Adolescents face increasing psychological stress due to academic pressure, social expectations, and rapidly changing environments.This study investigates the link between mental well-being and cognitive performance among adolescents in secondary schools of Uttarakhand.This study explores the relationship between mental well-being and cognitive performance among adolescents aged 13-17 years in Uttarakhand's secondary schools.Utilizing a stratified random sample of 400 students from both urban and rural, government and private schools, data was collected through the WHO-5 Well-being Index and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices.The analysis reveals a statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.63, p < 0.01), suggesting that adolescents with higher mental well-being demonstrate better cognitive abilities, including reasoning and problem-solving.Further, students from urban and private school backgrounds scored notably higher than their rural and government counterparts, underlining the role of environmental and institutional factors.Gender did not show significant differences.These findings reinforce the urgent need to integrate mental health support and awareness into educational policy and school curricula to foster holistic academic development.The study contributes to contemporary discourse on adolescent mental health, aligning with the National Education Policy 2020 and SDGs 3 and 4, and advocates systemic reforms to ensure educational equity and emotional well-being.