Abstract

This study aims to examine the longitudinal associations between lifestyle habits of students at the beginning of their postsecondary education and their perseverance and academic achievement one year later. The convenience sample consists of 2124 students enrolled in the fall semester of 2023 at eight educational institutions (58% women, 42% men). Academic data on perseverance and achievement were provided by the institutions at two time points: fall semester 2023 (Time 1) and fall semester 2024 (Time 2). Participants self-reported their lifestyle habits, age, gender, parental education level, and personal income. Results show that better stress management is associated with a higher likelihood of academic perseverance one year later (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.16, p < .05), while higher frequency of daily vaping is negatively associated with perseverance (OR = .96, 95% CI: .92, 1.00, p < .05). Regarding academic achievement, daily breakfast consumption (b = 3.03, 95% CI: .45, 5.54, p < .05) and low alcohol consumption (b = .38, 95% CI: .09, .69, p < .05) are positively associated with better academic performance one year later, while vaping frequency (b = -.31, 95% CI: -.58, -.04, p < .05) is negatively associated with it.

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