Cross-sectional, longitudinal relationships of gender, academic motivation, learning activities, and lifestyle activities with academic performance among Japanese children: A 3-year sequential cohort study

Little is known about the longitudinal relationships of gender, academic motivation, learning activities, and lifestyle activities with academic performance in non-Western contexts. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal relationships of gender, academic motivation, learning activities, and lifestyle activities with academic performance through a 3-year sequential cohort study with 271 Japanese children aged 8–14. Results of multivariate latent curve modeling revealed that an increase in the frequency of having breakfast contributes to improvement in academic performance in Japanese; an increase in autonomous motivation and sleep duration contributes to improvement in Japanese performance among younger Japanese children; and an increase in the frequency of exercise contributes to promotion of Japanese performance among older Japanese children. Furthermore, an increase in the duration of private tutoring contributes to improvement in math performance among Japanese children and rise in introjected regulation and increase in daily study duration contributes to improvement in math performance among older Japanese children. These findings imply that, to effectively promote academic performance in Japanese, it would be useful for parents and educators to ensure that children have breakfast daily, promote autonomous motivation among children starting at a young age, and ensure that children have regular exercise as they grow older. Moreover, to effectively promote math performance, parents and educators must ensure that children receive private tutoring from a young age, promote introjected regulation and increase the time spent studying among children as they grow older.