Longitudinal Analysis of Causal Relationships Among Physical Health, Self-esteem, Social with drawal, and Academic Enthusiasm in Children and Adolescents: Latent Growth Model Analysis

This study explored the causal relationship between physical, psychological, and social health and academic enthusiasm of children and adolescents using the 2018 4th grade panel and 1st grade middle school panel data provided by the Korea Youth Policy Institute. The analysis sample is 2,264 4th grade panelists (4th grade, 6th grade, 2nd year of middle school) and 2,190 1st grade panelists (1st year of middle school, 3rd year of middle school, 2nd year of high school) who did not drop out in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th rounds and who did not have missing values in the variables entered into the research model. The analysis method was to establish a longitudinal causal relationship between the physical, psychological, and social health of children and adolescents and their academic enthusiasm using a latent growth model. The analysis results confirmed that the psychological and social health of the 4th grade panel and the 1st grade middle school panel were important factors influencing academic enthusiasm. On the other hand, it is difficult to confirm the direct effect of physical health on academic enthusiasm, but it has been confirmed to have an indirect effect on self-esteem and social withdrawal. The results of this study are expected to be useful as basic information to help improve the academic performance of children and adolescents.