Emotional intelligence impact on academic achievement and psychological well-being among university students: the mediating role of positive psychological characteristics.

The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship of emotional intelligence with psychological well-being and academic achievement through positive psychological characteristics among university students in China. The study was conducted with postgraduate and undergraduate students. The integration of emotional intelligence theory and positive psychological theory was used in this study. The introduced framework included emotional intelligence as the main independent variable, self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience as three mediators, and psychological well-being and academic achievement as two dependent variables. A survey was conducted among 518 students, and structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The study found that emotional intelligence was positively related to positive psychological characteristics, psychological well-being, and academic achievement, and the effects were stronger among postgraduate students. Also, positive psychological characteristics, which include self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience, mediate the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological well-being and academic achievement, and the relationship was stronger among postgraduate students. Proper coping strategies and mechanisms can be helpful to improve both psychological well-being and academic achievement at the same time among university students.

Reciprocal relations between future time perspective and academic achievement among adolescents: A four-wave longitudinal study.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents' academic achievement is closely associated with their future time perspective. However, the reciprocal nature of this relationship remains ambiguous due to a lack of longitudinal studies. This study investigated the developmental trajectories of future time perspective and academic achievement among adolescents, as well as reciprocal relations between future time perspective and academic achievement. METHODS: Between 2017 and 2019, we collected 373 adolescents' (baseline Mage = 14.48, SD = 1.90; 49% girls) future time perspective and academic achievement four times from Henan and Hunan Province, China. Each is separated by a 6-month interval. RESULTS: Chinese adolescents' future time perspective was relatively stable. Regarding academic achievement, two distinct developmental trajectories of academic achievement were identified (i.e., high positive growth class and low negative growth class). Those who excel tended to experience an upward trajectory, while those with poorer grades continued to experience a downward trajectory. In the high positive growth class, the intercept of future time perspective was positively correlated with the rate of academic achievement growth, whereas, in the low negative growth class, it negatively predicted the rate of academic achievement decline. More importantly, reciprocal relations existed between future time perspective and academic achievement. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' future time perspective may serve as a protective factor for academic achievement, while high academic achievement may also benefit future time perspective. Interventions to enhance academic achievement should prioritize cultivating adolescents' future perspectives. Additionally, preventing the adverse consequences of subpar academic achievement on future time perspective is imperative.

Skin and macular carotenoids and relations to academic achievement among school-aged children.

ABSTRACTObjectives: Carotenoids are plant pigments that accumulate in human tissue (e.g. macula and skin) and can serve as biomarkers for diet quality; however, knowledge on skin and macular carotenoids in relation to cognition in children is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by assessing links between skin and macular carotenoids and academic achievement in school-aged children.Methods: Children 7-12 years old (n = 81) participated in a crosssectional study. Skin and macular carotenoids were measured with reflection spectroscopy and heterochromatic flicker photometry, respectively. Academic achievement was measured using Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ-IV). Body Mass Index was calculated using height and weight measurements, demographic information was collected using a family demographics and pediatric health history questionnaire, and carotenoid intake was assessed using 7-day diet records.Results: Skin carotenoids were not related to macular pigment (r = 0.08, p = 0.22). Adjusting for age, sex, BMI percentile, household income, and total carotenoid consumption (mg/1000kcal), skin carotenoids were predictive of math (ß = 0.27, p = 0.02), broad math (ß = 0.36, p < 0.01) and math calculation (ß = 0.38, p < 0.01). Skin carotenoids displayed trending relationships with broad reading (ß = 0.23, p = 0.05) and reading fluency (ß = 0.22, p = 0.07). There were no significant associations between macular pigment and academic achievement (all ß's ≤ 0.07, all p's ≥ 0.56).Discussion: Skin carotenoids were positively associated with academic abilities in children, while macular carotenoids did not display this relationship. Future interventions examining prospective effects of changes in carotenoids in different tissues on childhood academic achievement are warranted.

It's not what you say it's what you do: School diversity ideologies and adolescent mental health and academic engagement.

This study examined the relation between schools' color-evasive versus multicultural diversity ideologies, school characteristics, and adolescent development. Across two datasets linking individual-level survey data (N = 1692) and administrative records (N = 300,063; Mage = 12.4, 52% female, 48% male), schools' stated support for diversity (via a pro-diversity mission statement) was related to adolescent mental health and academic achievement, but in nuanced ways depending on individual racial/ethnic backgrounds, the racial/ethnic diversity of the student body and teachers, and the extent of racial disparities in discipline and gifted education. Findings suggest that communicating support for diversity without redressing systemic inequities in school discipline and academic tracking will not reduce racism-related achievement gaps and may instead exacerbate mental health disparities.

Association between grit and depressive symptoms among medical students, moderated by academic performance.

Depression amongst medical students is a crucial matter. Grit, which is a potentially modifiable psychological factor, has been inversely linked to depressive symptoms. However, it remains unclear how grit is associated with depression. This study aims to examine the relationship between grit and depressive symptoms and to further investigate the potential effect modification by academic performance on the association between grit and depression among medical students. We focus on the total grit score and its subscales, namely perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from second-year medical students at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan from 2020 to 2023. The participants responded to questionnaire surveys comprising the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Short Grit Scale. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the association between grit and depressive symptoms. We also tested for effect modification by first-year Grade Point Average (GPA) on the association between grit and depression. The total grit score and its subscales, perseverance of effort and consistency of interest, were all inversely associated with depressive symptoms (b = -4.7 [95%CI - 6.7 to - 2.6], b = -3.7 [95%CI - 5.3 to - 2.1], b = -1.8 [95%CI - 3.5 to - 0.2], respectively). While the interaction term for the total grit score and GPA was not significant, the interaction term for perseverance of effort and GPA was significant, indicating that the association between perseverance of effort and depression was stronger among the higher-achieving students. The interaction term for consistency of interest and GPA was also significant, indicating that the association was stronger among the lower-achieving students. We reveal a novel aspect of the association between grit and depressive symptoms in light of academic performance. The findings will contribute to future research on depression amongst medical students.

Perinatal influences on academic achievement and the developing brain: a scoping systematic review.

Introduction and methods: In this PRISMA-compliant systematic review, we identify and synthesize the findings of research in which neuroimaging and assessments of achievement have been used to examine the relationships among aspects of developmental programming, neurodevelopment, and achievement in reading and mathematics. Results: Forty-seven studies met inclusion criteria. The majority examined the impact of prematurity (n = 32) and prenatal alcohol exposure (n = 13). Several prematurity studies reported a positive correlation between white-matter integrity of callosal fibers and executive functioning and/or achievement, and white matter properties were consistently associated with cognitive and academic performance in preterm and full-term children. Volumetric studies reported positive associations between academic and cognitive abilities and white and gray matter volume in regions such as the insula, putamen, and prefrontal lobes. Functional MRI studies demonstrated increased right-hemispheric language processing among preterm children. Altered activation of the frontoparietal network related to numerical abilities was also reported. Prenatal alcohol exposure studies reported alterations in white matter microstructure linked to deficits in cognitive functioning and academic achievement, including mathematics, reading, and vocabulary skills. Volumetric studies reported reductions in cerebral, cerebellar, and subcortical gray matter volumes associated with decreased scores on measures of executive functioning, attention, working memory, and academic performance. Functional MRI studies demonstrated broad, diffuse activation, reduced activation in canonical regions, and increased activation in non-canonical regions during numeric tasks. Discussion: A preponderance of studies linked prematurity and prenatal alcohol exposure to altered neurodevelopmental processes and suboptimal academic achievement. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. Systematic review registration: Identifier: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/ZAN67.

Nurturing Success: E-Learning readiness and academic self-efficacy in nursing students.

BACKGROUND: As nursing education embraces e-learning as a vital component of its pedagogical approach, understanding the interplay between students' readiness for E-learning and their academic self-efficacy becomes imperative in nurturing successful learning outcomes amidst evolving educational paradigms. PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between e-learning readiness, academic self-efficacy, and the academic achievement of nursing students within the dynamic educational environment. DESIGN: This study employed a cross-sectional design. METHODS: A total of 208 nursing students were recruited through convenience sampling at the end of the second semester in 2022. The evaluation included the utilization of Grade Point Average, the Online Learning Readiness Scale, and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. FINDINGS: Previous research has indicated a significant positive correlation between academic achievement and readiness for e-learning, suggesting that higher levels of readiness for e-learning among nursing students lead to improved academic achievement (p ≤ 0.001). Additionally, the findings of the current study revealed a notable positive correlation between academic achievement and academic self-efficacy (p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights into the critical role of academic self-efficacy and e-learning readiness in enhancing academic achievement among nursing students.

Socioeconomic differences in the long-term effects of teacher absence on student outcomes.

School teachers' sickness absence has been shown to affect student achievement in the short run. However, we know little about whether socioeconomic backgrounds may compensate for reductions in instructional quality and to what extent teacher absence effects persist over time. This paper examines the socioeconomic differences in the short- and long-term effects of teacher absence. We use population-wide Norwegian register data to study the effects of certified teacher absence during lower secondary school (grades 8-10) on non-completion of upper secondary education by age 21 (i.e. school dropout) as well as academic achievement in 10th grade. In a school fixed effects model, we find that an increase in teacher absence of 5 percentage points reduces students' examination grades by 2.3% of a standard deviation and increases the dropout probability by 0.6 percentage points. However, the teacher absence effects vary considerably by family background, with large effects for low-SES students driving the overall effects. Overall, our findings indicate that reductions in instructional quality increase social inequality in long-term educational outcomes. This result highlights that studying heterogeneous impacts of contextual exposures is needed to understand the role of schools in shaping inequality.

Traumatic brain injury and long-term associations with work, divorce and academic achievement.

OBJECTIVE: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), irrespective of severity, may have long-term social implications. This study explores the relationships between TBI severity and outcomes related to work stability, divorce, and academic achievement. METHODS: Using a Danish nationwide sample of persons with and without TBI, we employed case-control and longitudinal cohort designs. The case-control design utilized individuals aged 18 to 60 years and examined work stability. Each case, employed at time of TBI, was compared with 10 matched controls. The cohort design utilized individuals alive from 1980 to 2016 with and without TBI and assessed the likelihood of 1) divorce and 2) higher-level education. TBI exposures included concussion, skull fractures, or confirmed TBI. RESULTS: TBI cases exhibited higher odds ratios (OR) for work instability at all follow-ups compared to controls. Increased TBI severity was associated with a higher risk of work instability at 2-year follow-up (concussion: OR = 1.83; skull fracture: OR = 2.22; confirmed TBI: OR = 4.55), and with a higher risk of not working at 10-year follow-up (confirmed TBI: OR = 2.82; concussion: OR = 1.63). The divorce incidence rate ratio (IRR) was elevated in individuals with TBI (males: IRR = 1.52; females: IRR = 1.48) compared to those without TBI. Individuals with childhood TBI had reduced chances of attaining high school degree or higher (males: IRR = 0.79; females: IRR = 0.85) compared to those without TBI. CONCLUSION: TBI is associated with an increased long-term risk of social consequences, including work instability, divorce, and diminished chances of higher education, even in cases with concussion.

Academic achievement in Ugandan children with sickle cell anaemia: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: Academic achievement in school-age children is crucial for advancing learning goals. Children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) in Sub-Saharan Africa may be at risk of disease-associated school difficulties. Limited data exist on the academic achievement of children with SCA in the region. This study aimed to assess academic achievement of children with SCA in Uganda compared to siblings without SCA. Design and setting: A cross-sectional study conducted at Mulago Hospital SCA Clinic in Uganda. Participants: School-going children (6-12 years) with SCA and age-matched sibling controls without SCA. Outcome measures: Academic achievement was tested using the Wide Range Achievement Test, Fourth Edition (WRAT4). Outcome measures were spelling, mathematical computation, word reading, and sentence comprehension by age-normalized Z-scores on the WRAT4 test. Results: Among 68 SCA and 69 control, the mean age (standard deviation) was 9.44 (2.04) and 9.42 (2.02) years and males were 55.9% and 46.4% respectively. Mean haemoglobin was 7.9 (SD 0.89)g/dL in the SCA group versus 12.8 (SD 0.89)g/dL in the controls, (p<0.001). Children with SCA scored lower in spelling, (mean difference [95% confidence interval] - 0.36 [-0.02 to -0.69], p=0.04) and mathematical computation, (mean difference [95% confidence interval] -0.51 [-0.17 to -0.85], p=0.003) than the controls. In the SCA group, lower scores in spelling correlated with age, while males performed better than females in mathematical computation. Conclusion: School-aged children with SCA are at risk of poor performance in spelling and mathematical computation. Our findings support the need for educational evaluation and possible support, especially in these two areas.

Learning in context: Undergraduate students' knowledge and the content retention of anatomy between discipline-specific and integrated course approaches.

Undergraduate introductory human anatomy and human physiology courses are either taught as discipline-specific or integrated anatomy and physiology (A&P) sequences. An institution underwent a curricular revision to change the course approach from discipline-specific Human Anatomy and Human Physiology to an integrated A&P I and II sequence, allowing the unique opportunity to explore the potential role of contextual learning in academic achievement and content retention. Mediation and moderation analysis was used to evaluate lecture examinations, laboratory practical examinations, and anatomical content retention between the different course approaches. Undergraduate students in the integrated A&P I course approach performed significantly better on lecture assessments and had a higher anatomy content retention rate at the end of the year than students enrolled in the standalone Human Anatomy course. The lecture examination averages between Human Physiology and A&P II (the second course in the sequence), as well as the anatomy laboratory practical examinations, were not significantly different between discipline-specific and integrated course approaches. The results suggest contextual learning-providing physiological context to anatomical structures-increases the anatomical content retention and academic achievement overall.

Beyond School Climate: Conceptualizing the School as a Protective Factor Approach.

BACKGROUND: The school climate concept has been promising, but has long-standing critiques that have not been adequately addressed to date. The School as a Protective Factor approach represents one attempt to offer a new approach that builds on and extends beyond the concept of school climate while addressing previously identified limitations. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEORY: The School as a Protective Factor approach offers a new framework for conceptualizing, measuring, and establishing protective school social and learning environments that co-promote academic achievement and student health in schools, especially student mental health and substance use/abuse prevention. This new framework includes clear definitions, explicit goals, firmly established constructs, validated measures, and an intentionally parsimonious approach that prioritizes the implementation of well-established, high-impact constructs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: The School as a Protective Factor approach presents a simple, easy-to-use means of ensuring a school social environment that meets the developmental, academic, and health needs of all children and adolescents while maximizing protection across a range of desired outcomes. Perhaps most importantly, it does so in a manner that is manageable and easily integrated into every aspect of schooling, resonates with the practical experience of school personnel, and includes brief, effective, and free measurement tools.

Psychological and Academic Adaptation Through Universal Ethnic Studies Classes: Results of a Natural Experiment.

Schools in the United States are increasingly offering ethnic studies classes, which focus on exploring students' ethnic-racial identities (ERI) and critical analysis of systemic racism, to their diverse student bodies, yet scant research exists on their effectiveness for students of different ethnic-racial backgrounds in multiracial classrooms. A policy change to require all high school students in one school district to take an ethnic studies class facilitated a natural experiment for comparing the effects of quasi-random assignment to an ethnic studies class (treatment) relative to a traditional social studies class (control; e.g., U.S. Government, Human Geography). Student surveys and school administrative data were used to compare students' ERI development, well-being, and academic outcomes across ethnic studies and control classes. Participants (N = 535 9th graders; 66.1% ethnic studies) had diverse ethnic-racial (33.5% non-Latine White, 29.5% Black, 21.1% Latine, 10.7% biracial, 2.8% Asian, 2.2% Native American) and gender identities (44.7% female, 7.1% non-binary). Ethnic studies students reported marginally higher ERI exploration and resolution than controls, and sensitivity analyses showed a statistically significant effect on ERI among participants with complete midpoint surveys. Higher resolution was associated with better psychological well-being for all students and higher attendance for White students. Students with low middle school grades (GPA < 2.0) had better high school grades in core subjects when enrolled in ethnic studies than the control class. Overall, the results of this natural experiment provide preliminary support for ethnic studies classes as a method for promoting ERI development, well-being, attendance, and academic achievement for students from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds.

Intelligence Mindsets Trajectory Profiles among Chinese Elementary School Students: Associations with Changes in Academic Achievement from Grades 4 to 6.

Early adolescence is a critical period for the development of children's intelligence mindsets, which play a significant role in academic achievement. However, existing research predominantly employs variable-centered approaches, which fail to capture individual differences in mindset-achievement relations. This research addresses this gap by adopting a longitudinal person-centered approach to explore the joint developmental trajectories of growth and fixed mindsets among early adolescents. It further explores how these trajectories relate to changes in academic achievement (i.e., the mean of standardized mathematics and Chinese achievement test scores) over 2 years, accounting for intelligence and sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, and family SES. In two five-wave longitudinal studies with 748 (Mage = 10.23 years, SD = 0.30; 49% girls at T1) and 3258 (Mage = 10.34 years, SD = 0.37; 49% girls at T1) Chinese elementary school students from grades 4 to 6, four distinct mindset trajectory profiles were identified: Growth (initially high growth but low fixed mindsets), Fixed (initially high fixed but low growth mindsets), Moderate (initially moderate levels in both mindsets), and Both-High (initially high levels in both mindsets). Analysis across both studies revealed that students in the Growth trajectory profile exhibited the most significant improvements in academic achievement 2 years later. Conversely, students in the Both-High trajectory profile experienced the least favorable academic outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing individual differences in mindset trajectories and their potential impact on academic outcomes. The current research underscores the need for educational interventions that are tailored to different mindset profiles to optimize student development and achievement.

Comparative Analysis of Academic, Behavioral, and Psychophysiological Variables in Male and Female Vocational Training Students.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not there are notable differences between male and female vocational training students in terms of academic, behavioral, and psychophysiological characteristics. METHODS: A total of 411 vocational training students, 210 of whom were male and 201 of whom were female, participated in an online survey that assessed academic, behavioral, and psychophysiological patterns. RESULTS: In terms of extraversion and openness to experience, our research revealed that no statistically significant differences were noticed. When it came to agreeableness, however, significant differences were seen, with female students getting higher marks than male students. Furthermore, we found that there were significant gender differences in terms of neuroticism and conscientiousness, with female students achieving higher scores than male students. When compared to their male counterparts, females displayed higher performance in terms of academic success. They also demonstrated superior values in terms of reported stress, anxiety, and cognitive inflexibility. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide a more in-depth understanding of the numerous factors that have an impact on students engaging in vocational training. This will serve as a foundation for the development of individualized instructional and support programs.

Assessing stress causing factors and language related challenges among first year students in higher institutions in Pakistan.

This mixed-methods study delves into stress factors among first-year undergraduate students in universities across Punjab, Pakistan. Five hundred students underwent evaluation for stress levels and academic achievement, with 10 selected for further analysis. The Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983) and demographic sheets were utilized for data collection. Analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between perceived stress and academic achievement. While women exhibited higher stress levels but better academic performance, students from public sector universities reported greater stress and lower academic success. In-depth interviews identified key stressors including heavy academic workload, financial constraints, limited support systems, competitive academic environments, and language-related challenges, notably weak English-speaking skills. These findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced support services, increased financial aid accessibility, a balanced academic culture, and the implementation of language support programs in Southern Punjab's higher education institutions. Addressing these stressors is crucial for fostering the well-being and academic success of first-year students, emphasizing the importance of creating a supportive learning environment during this transitional phase. The study offers insights into the multifaceted nature of stress experienced by first-year students and highlights the imperative of addressing these stressors to promote a nurturing learning environment conducive to academic success. Future research should explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing stress among first-year students and investigate additional factors that may contribute to stress in this population.

Dynamics of a dynamic interrelationship: Exploring whether bidirectional learning behaviors-achievement relations differ across student-teacher relationship profiles.

Children who engage more in classroom instruction tend to also have higher levels of academic achievement relative to their peers who engage less. Although research has clearly established an association between such learning behaviors and academic achievement, the directionality of this relationship, and the possibility of bidirectional relations, remain unclear. It is possible that this lack of clarity stems from the fact that interrelationships between achievement and learning behaviors may differ across student-teacher relationship contexts. We evaluated this possibility using a large nationally representative sample of kindergarten to third grade students (N = 2010) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2011. Using latent profile moderation analyses, we identified three profiles of student-teacher relationships across kindergarten through third grade students: (a) Close (68%), (b) Conflictual (16%), and (c) Uninvolved (16%). Our follow-up models identified bidirectional relations that differed across these profiles, indicating more robust bidirectional learning behavior-achievement interrelationships in the Close profile and more unidirectional achievement to learning behavior relations in the Conflictual and Uninvolved profiles. These findings illustrate how differences in environmental contexts impact the relationship between students' learning behaviors and their achievement. Future studies should consider contextual influences when investigating children's academic growth processes and developing interventions.

Association between paediatric eye injuries, later academic success and social performance.

Aim: To investigate an association between eye injury and later academic and social performance. Materials: A retrospective longitudinal study of taking measurements multiple times was conducted including all severe eye injuries admitted during 2011-2017 at the main regional clinic to investigate changes in academic success and social inclusion before and after an injury. Parents/caregivers were surveyed asking questions on academic performance, and community/social involvement. In 2023 data on employment status were obtained. Kappa (ĸ) and non-parametric Wilcox-on signed-rank test for multiple comparisons were used. For association of employment status and post-injury visual acuity Fisher score was tested. Results: The total sample for assessing social inclusion and academic success was 36 and 25 children, respectively. In the following academic year ĸ agreements decreased from 0.88 (p<0.001) comparing pre-injury with a one-year post to 0.5106 (p<.0001) in the second year and 0.4750 (p=0.003) in the third, suggesting a deteriorating trend. A comparison of academic success before injury to two and three years after injury showed the trend significantly worsening with time (p=0.005, and 0.003, respectively). No association between an eye injury and social inclusion, as well as between employment and final visual acuity was noticed. Conclusion: Our findings suggest no association between social inclusion, employment, and eye trauma, while in later years academic success may be more impacted by the eye injury. Due to eye injury unpredictability in childhood age, both an informed and supportive climate environment at home and school is essential to minimize deleterious responses to eye trauma.

The impact of family socioeconomic status on parental involvement and student engagement during COVID-19 in promoting academic achievement: A longitudinal study in Chinese children.

With a three-wave longitudinal design, the current study examined the impact of family socioeconomic status (SES) on parental involvement and student engagement in promoting children's academic achievement during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We recruited data from 246 mother-primary school student dyads, and the mean age of children at Wave 1 was 10.57 ± 0.97 years (range = 9-13 years). The academic achievement of these children was measured both before and after school closures. Family SES, parental involvement, and student engagement were assessed during the school closures. The results indicated that family SES could predict children's later academic achievement after accounting for their prior academic achievement and other demographics (i.e., the significant total effect in the model). Moreover, parental involvement and student engagement played chain-mediating roles in the effect of family SES on children's later academic achievement. Neither parent involvement nor student involvement alone mediated the relationships between family SES and subsequent academic achievement. Suggestions are provided to minimize the negative impact of low family SES on children's academic achievement during pandemics.

Mediating role of inhibitory control in relationships between cardiovascular fitness and academic achievement in preadolescents.

Cardiovascular fitness (CRF) has been consistently linked to cognitive performance and academic achievement, and inhibitory control has been recognized as a key predictor of academic success. However, few studies have explored whether inhibitory control mediates the relationship between CRF and academic performance in children, and the existing findings are inconclusive because of certain limitations. This study investigated the mediating role of inhibitory control in the association between CRF and academic achievement among preadolescents while also addressing the related limitations. This study enrolled a total of 175 elementary school students (70 girls, mean age=11.17years, standard deviation=0.7), who participated in a half-mile test for assessing their CRF level. Additionally, inhibitory control was measured using the Stroop Color and Word Test (Stroop test), and language and mathematics tests were administered to measure their academic performance. The results revealed that the participants with higher CRF levels achieved superior performance in tasks requiring a high level of inhibitory control (r=0.291, P<0.001) and in Chinese language (r=-0.415, P<0.001) and mathematics (r=-0.366, P<0.001) tests even when gender, age, and body fat were considered. Furthermore, a mediation analysis revealed that inhibitory control, as measured through the incongruent trials of the Stroop test, partially mediated the relationship between CRF and academic performance (language: indirect effect=-0.013, 95% CI [-0.019, -0.008]; math: indirect effect=-0.013, 95% CI [-0.021, -0.009]). These findings have major implications for child development, emphasizing the key role of inhibitory control in the beneficial effects of CRF on academic achievement.