Private Tutoring Classes and Emotional Well-Being in China: Bidirectional Relationship and the Role of Academic Achievement

AbstractThe Chinese education system is characterized as highly meritocratic and examination-oriented. Scores in high-stakes public standardized examinations mainly determine upward educational transitions. Private tutoring classes (PTCs) are a typical measure to boost students’ academic achievement. Mental health is also assumed to affect one’s behaviors and educational outcomes, playing a key role in the stratification process. However, few studies discuss (1) the bidirectional relationship between PTC attendance and emotional well-being, and (2) the role of academic achievement in determining PTC attendance and moderating the relationship between the two variables. This study fills these gaps by analyzing the 2013–14 and 2014–15 waves of data from the China Educational Panel Survey. Using a cross-lagged model, the author only finds a positive association between prior emotional well-being and later PTC attendance. Moreover, the positive association between students’ prior academic achievement and their later PTC attendance suggests that PTCs tend to serve higher-performing students. Examining the heterogeneity of the bidirectional relationship in terms of academic achievement, the author finds that only low-achievers follow a similar pattern as shown in the full sample model. This study will enrich the understanding on how mental health together with PTCs attendance contributes to the educational stratification process.Keywords: Academic achievementChinaemotional well-beingshadow education Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Although there are some other channels for junior high school students to be admitted by senior high school, such as obtaining the certification in a “special talent (artistical or a professional athlete)”, or going to international schooling programs, etc., students choosing the first channel still need to meet the corresponding cut-off scores in the senior high school entrance examination. As the expenditure of international schools is high, the second channel is not always a choice for most of the students and their parents.2 In China’s social context, the elite universities always refer to those in Project 985 and 211 (China Education Center n.d.), having the highest cut-off scores; the cut-off scores for first-tier universities are lower than that of elite universities; the third bracket of universities are second-tier universities; and the junior college is the lowest bracket.3 STATA will not report goodness-of-fit indices except for CD when SEM is adjusted by cluster effect.Additional informationNotes on contributorsYutong HuYutong Hu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.