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Individual and Sociodemographic Factors Associated to Prosocial Behaviors and Academic Performance in Portuguese Preschool and Elementary School Children: Highlights from a National Study After COVID-19

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Abstract

Scientific knowledge has long been showing the intrinsic link between health and well-being with education highlighting the positive health impacts from improvements in education. The present study was developed with the main goal of analyzing the individual and sociodemographic predictors of prosocial behavior and academic performance in preschool and elementary school children. Data on 3623 school aged children, 1853 girls and 1770 boys, aged between 5 and 11 years old (M = 7.25; SD = 1.56) participating in the study “Psychological Health and Well-being | School Observatory” were analyzed. Prosocial behavior was measured by the SDQ, and academic performance was assessed by the students’ classifications on different domains/subjects. The results of regression analyses showed that girls with less emotional, hyperactivity, behavioral and peer problems had more prosocial behaviors. Younger preschool children with more support from school social action tier, less hyperactivity problems and more prosocial behavior presented better academic performance. Elementary school children with parents/caregivers with higher educational attainment, more support from school social action tier, fewer hyperactivity and emotional symptoms and more prosocial and behavior problems presented better academic performance. We can conclude that gender and internalizing and externalizing symptoms are related to prosocial behavior and that hyperactivity problems and higher social action levels are related to a poorer academic performance. Future in depth studies will focus on the mechanisms of these relationships to better inform strategies for the promotion of prosocial behavior and academic performance. This is an important message for parents, educators, and teachers as well as for public policies in education, whenever pupils’ psychological well-being and their academic growth is concerned.

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Data Availability

All data and materials are available upon request from Nuno Neto Rodrigues.

Notes

  1. In this document, for the purpose of simplifying the reading, the term “students” will sometimes be chosen, regardless of whether referring to children enrolled in pre-school education or students enrolled in the 1st cycle of basic education.

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Funding

This study was designed in an optimizing care perspective and developed under the support of the Portuguese Ministry of Education, in a partnership between the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics, the Directorate-General of Education, the National Program for the Promotion of School Success, the Aventura Social Team/ISAMB, University of Lisbon (scientific coordinator), the Portuguese Psychologists Association and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 

No funding was received for conducting this specific study and to assist with the preparation of this specific manuscript, although the research team had a small grant to undertake the national survey and data analysis in a first period of the complete study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISAMB/Environmental Health/Medical School, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Marina Carvalho, Cátia Branquinho, Catarina Noronha, Barbara Moraes & Margarida Gaspar de Matos

  2. CHUA; ISMAT, Rua Dr. Estêvão de Vasconcelos, nº 33, Portimão, 8500-656, Portugal

    Marina Carvalho

  3. DGEEC, Lisbon, Portugal

    Nuno Rodrigues

  4. APPSYCI/ ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal

    Margarida Gaspar de Matos

  5. FCH/ UCP, Lisbon, Portugal

    Margarida Gaspar de Matos

Authors
  1. Marina Carvalho
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  4. Barbara Moraes
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  6. Margarida Gaspar de Matos
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Contributions

Cátia Branquinho, Margarida Gaspar de Matos and Nuno Neto Rodrigues contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by Cátia Branquinho, Catarina Noronha and Bárbara Moraes and Nuno Neto Rodrigues. Data collection was performed by Cátia Branquinho, Catarina Noronha, Bárbara Moraes and Nuno Neto Rodrigues. Data analyses were performed by Marina Carvalho and Margarida Gaspar de Matos. The original draft of the manuscript was written by Marina Carvalho, Cátia Branquinho, Catarina Noronha and Bárbara Moraes. Review and editing were performed by Marina Carvalho, Margarida Gaspar de Matos, and Nuno Neto Rodrigues. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Marina Carvalho.

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Statement Regarding Informed Consent

Responses to the study required previous authorization of the students' parents/caregivers, and the acceptance of the informed consent information included in the online data collection instruments. 

Statement Regarding Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and by a Consultative Committee composed of members of the Portuguese Ministry of Education, the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics, the Directorate-General of Education, the Portuguese Psychologists Association, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the National Program for the Promotion of School Success and the Aventura Social Team/ISAMB, University of Lisbon (scientific coordinator). 

Statement Regarding Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

The study was approved by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the above referred Ethics Committee and was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Carvalho, M., Branquinho, C., Noronha, C. et al. Individual and Sociodemographic Factors Associated to Prosocial Behaviors and Academic Performance in Portuguese Preschool and Elementary School Children: Highlights from a National Study After COVID-19. Child Ind Res 17, 289–307 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10086-2

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