TY - JOUR
T1 - How Do Individual Predispositions and Family Dynamics Contribute to Academic Adjustment Through the Middle School Years? The Mediating Role of Friends’ Characteristics
AU - Vaillancourt, Marie Claire
AU - Oliveira Paiva, Alexandra
AU - Véronneau, Marie Hélène
AU - Dishion, Thomas J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Funding was provided by Grant DA07031 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to TJD, and by Grant HD62753 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Grant 26858 from the Québec Research Funds – Health to MHV.
Funding Information:
Marie Claire Vaillancourt, BSc, is a doctoral student in psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada. Her research interests include peer experiences, adolescent cliques, social network analysis, academic success, parental influence, school climate, and mental health throughout adolescence. Her current work is supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Québec Research Funds– Society and Culture.
Funding Information:
Marie-Hélène Véronneau, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada. She founded the Educational Pathways and Social Influences Lab. Her research interests include peer experiences, academic success, school persistence, and mental health throughout childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Her most recent work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Québec Research Funds.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - This study examined the mediating effect of friends’ characteristics (problem behavior and academic achievement) in the association between students’ background (family and individual factors) and later academic adjustment, as operationalized by problem behavior and academic achievement. We recruited 998 participants in three public middle schools and used three annual waves of data collection (Grades 6, 7, and 8). We found that students’ own academic achievement and problem bahvior are predictors of later adjustment. Friendship choices are identified as a mediation mechanism that contributes to consistent adjustment from the beginning to the end of middle school. Specifically, high-achieving students in Grade 6 tend to associate with high-achieving friends and are unlikely to associate with friends who exhibit problem behavior in Grade 7, which results in continued achievement in Grade 8. Associating with high-achieving friends in Grade 7 also mediated the link between adolescent problem behavior in Grade 6 and academic achievement by Grade 8. Friends’ characteristics in Grade 7 did not mediate the effect of any family factor measured in Grade 6. In general, our results suggest friendship selection is central to sustained success throughout the middle school years.
AB - This study examined the mediating effect of friends’ characteristics (problem behavior and academic achievement) in the association between students’ background (family and individual factors) and later academic adjustment, as operationalized by problem behavior and academic achievement. We recruited 998 participants in three public middle schools and used three annual waves of data collection (Grades 6, 7, and 8). We found that students’ own academic achievement and problem bahvior are predictors of later adjustment. Friendship choices are identified as a mediation mechanism that contributes to consistent adjustment from the beginning to the end of middle school. Specifically, high-achieving students in Grade 6 tend to associate with high-achieving friends and are unlikely to associate with friends who exhibit problem behavior in Grade 7, which results in continued achievement in Grade 8. Associating with high-achieving friends in Grade 7 also mediated the link between adolescent problem behavior in Grade 6 and academic achievement by Grade 8. Friends’ characteristics in Grade 7 did not mediate the effect of any family factor measured in Grade 6. In general, our results suggest friendship selection is central to sustained success throughout the middle school years.
KW - academic achievement
KW - friendship
KW - middle school students
KW - parent-child relation
KW - problem behavior
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U2 - 10.1177/0272431618776124
DO - 10.1177/0272431618776124
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047797497
SN - 0272-4316
VL - 39
SP - 576
EP - 602
JO - Journal of Early Adolescence
JF - Journal of Early Adolescence
IS - 4
ER -