Changes in Children’s Well-Being and Mental Health Across the Early School Years: Links With Academic and Social Competence

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between children’s well-being and mental health in the early years of primary school and the developmental association between well-being and mental health and children’s early social and academic skills. Two hundred fifty-two children (131 girls, M_age = 5.40 years, 80% White) and their caregivers (89.8% mothers) from the United Kingdom participated in a 1-year longitudinal study. Children completed measures of well-being, cognitive, and academic skills. Caregivers provided ratings of children’s well-being and mental health. Teachers and caregivers rated children’s social competence. Measurement models showed that well-being and mental health were distinct constructs at both time points. There were moderate levels of rank-order stability in well-being but declines in average levels of well-being with a corresponding increase in mental health difficulties. Well-being and mental health exhibited differential associations with social competence and academic performance. Initial levels of mental health predicted later academic and social competence, while gains in well-being were associated with academic skills and social competence.