Depressive symptoms affect adolescents' grades during their first year of high school: a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22544/rcps.v44i01.12

Keywords:

multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, anxiety, depression, students, grades, high school

Abstract

Young people with academic problems are vulnerable to anxiety disorders or depression. However, the statistical relationship between anxiety, depression and academic performance among male and female adolescents is unknown. The objective was to identify with a Confirmatory Factor Analysis whether the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms is related to the grades of the first year of high school. A cross-sectional, prospective, quantitative survey study was carried out with 212 students from a high school in Xalapa, Mexico. Zung depression scores, BSPS social anxiety scores, and course grades were recorded. Academic performance was acceptable for accreditation but average for the general evaluation. The symptomatology of the disorders was presented in 52% (depression) and 24% (anxiety) of the sample. The three factorial invariance models showed an excellent fit with respect to the data. These results allowed us to demonstrate the positive classification between the latent variables anxiety and depression, and the negative classification between grades and these disorders. The three latent variables presented factor loadings greater than 0.30 for their indicators, which shows their direct effects. The negative rating of symptoms with low grades differs between sexes, predominating in females.

Author Biographies

Guadalupe del Rosario Sánchez-Sánchez, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México

Graduate in Pharmaceutical Biological Chemistry from Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. She specialized in Statistics and completed a research residency at the University of Costa Rica. She is currently the Pharmacy Health Manager for the Comprehensive Health Unit for Transgender People, Mexico City Health Secretariat. She is interested in researching human performance in diverse population samples and its impact on potential affective disorders.

Odir Antonio Rodríguez-Villagra, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica

He earned his PhD from the University of Potsdam in Germany. He is currently the Director of the Center for Neuroscience Research and was Director of the Graduate Program in Cognitive Sciences at the University of Costa Rica. He is also a researcher at the Institute of Psychological Research and a professor at the School of Psychology, the Graduate Program in Cognitive Sciences, and other academic units at the University of Costa Rica. His research currently focuses on understanding the factors that limit working memory capacity and the processes that assist with information retention. He approaches these aspects methodologically through statistical modeling, mathematical modeling, electroencephalography studies, and eye movement recording.

Blandina Bernal-Morales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, México

A full-time researcher at the Institute of Neuroethology at the Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico, she holds a PhD in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in the field of behavioral neuroscience. She is a professor at the Faculty of Biological Pharmaceutical Chemistry, in the graduate program in Neuroethology, and in the technological baccalaureate program specializing in Clinical Laboratory Technician. She conducts research in the neuropharmacology laboratory on affective disorders, stress, and development, using animal models of anxiety and depression under the influence of hormonal, flavonoid, and pharmacological test substances. She conducts collateral studies on education, performance, and academic achievement under different experimental conditions.

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Published

2025-07-29

How to Cite

Sánchez-Sánchez, G. del R. ., Rodríguez-Villagra, O. A., & Bernal-Morales, B. (2025). Depressive symptoms affect adolescents’ grades during their first year of high school: a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Costa Rican Journal of Psychology, 44(1). https://doi.org/10.22544/rcps.v44i01.12

Issue

Vol. 44 No. 1 (2025): Psychology and Neuroscience: Contributions and challenges for the multidisciplinary study of human behavior and cognition (January-June 2025, continuous publication)

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Psychology and Neuroscience

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