This study aimed to identify profiles of domain-specific academic achievement (Chinese, mathematics, English achievement) using latent profile analysis (LPA) and to investigate how profile membership related to later comprehensive mental health among elementary students. A total of 913 Chinese elementary students (54.0% boys, M age = 10.52 years, SD = .94) participated in two waves of data collection, employing a 3-month time interval. LPA revealed five profiles: Moderately High Academic Achievement Across Domains , Average Academic Achievement Across Domains , Below-Average with Verbal Strength and Mathematics Weakness , Below-Average with Mathematics Strength and Verbal Weakness and Low Academic Achievement Across Domains . Profile membership differentially related to later comprehensive mental health outcomes and further revealed the crucial role of mathematics achievement in suicidal ideation among Chinese elementary students who demonstrated imbalanced achievement levels in Chinese, mathematics, and English. These findings indicated that interventions to promote optimal mental health should be customized for particular groups.
Zhao et al. (2026) studied this question.