THE ECOLOGY OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS’ ACADEMIC ADJUSTMENT

Open Access
- Author:
- Dotterer, Aryn M
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- September 01, 2006
- Committee Members:
- Susan Marie Mc Hale, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Ann Caverly Crouter, Committee Member
Linda M Burton, Committee Member
Alan Booth, Committee Member - Keywords:
- academic achievement
school engagement
academic interest
longitudinal
African American youth
adolescents
out-of-school activities
discrimination - Abstract:
- Study 1 explored connections between youth’s time in out-of-school activities and school engagement. Participants were 140, 6th - 9th grade African American adolescents from working/middle class, two-parent families. Out-of-school activities were measured with a series of 7 nightly phone calls and focused on time in structured (homework, academically-oriented, extracurricular/sports) and unstructured (watching television, hanging out with peers) activities; school engagement was assessed during the home interview. Results showed more time in extracurricular activities was associated with greater school self-esteem and school bonding. More time spent on homework was associated with greater school bonding for boys. More time watching television was associated with lower school self-esteem and school bonding. Study 2 examined the relation between experiences with discrimination and school engagement as well as the role of racial socialization and ethnic identity as protective factors among 148, 6th - 12th grade African American adolescents from working/middle class two-parent families. Results documented that greater experience with discrimination at school was associated with lower school self-esteem and school bonding. Parent racial socialization had additive effects on school self-esteem and school bonding, but did not moderate the association between discrimination and school engagement. Ethnic identity moderated the relation between discrimination and school bonding: When girls experienced more discrimination and had lower ethnic identity, they had lower school bonding. Study 3 was based on 9 waves of data from a study of family relationships and youth development among European American families and examined the developmental pattern and correlates of youth’s interest in academics. Using a multi-level modeling strategy, this study examined individual growth trajectories of youth’s interest in academics as a function of age, gender, school transitions, and parent characteristics. The overall pattern of change was one of decline, although the rate of change varied somewhat for boys compared to girls. The transition to junior high was negatively related to academic interests, while father’s education level was positively related to academic interests. Results also documented that mothers’ interest in academics buffered the decline in academic interests across the transition to junior high. Finally, declines in academic interest were linked to declines in grade point average.