Adolescent Academic Achievement Research Articles

The Role of Cognitive Stimulation in the Home and Maternal Responses to Low Grades in Low-Income African American Adolescents\u2019 Academic Achievement

Parental involvement in education has generally been shown to foster adolescent academic achievement, yet little is known about whether two important forms of parental involvement—how parents respond to academic underachievement and how parents provide cognitive stimulation in the home—are related to academic achievement for African American adolescents. This study uses two waves of data to evaluate whether these forms of parental involvement are related to future academic achievement for low-income African American adolescents and whether there are gender differences in these associations. African American mothers and adolescents (N = 226; 48% girls) were interviewed when adolescents were ages 14 and 16. Mothers of girls reported higher mean levels of punitive responses to grades than mothers of boys, but child gender did not moderate associations between parental involvement and academic achievement. Cognitive stimulation in the home was related to changes in academic achievement from 14 to 16 years of age, controlling for age 14 academic achievement. This study provides evidence that nonpunitive responses to inadequate grades and cognitive stimulation at home are linked to academic achievement among African American adolescents.

Externalizing behaviour, task-focused behaviour, and academic achievement: An indirect relation?

Although many studies have suggested that students' externalizing (aggressive and rule-breaking) behaviour is detrimental to their academic achievement, the underlying mechanisms have rarely been investigated. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of whether the negative relation between externalizing behaviour and academic achievement operationalized as grades and test scores is mediated by students' task-focused behaviour while controlling for the effects of initial achievement and general cognitive abilities. We conducted separate analyses for different rating perspectives (i.e., parents and teachers) on students' externalizing behaviour to investigate the robustness of effects and determined whether gender moderated the mediation. Participants were N=1,039 students in 55 classes from different school types who were followed from fifth to ninth grade. In fifth grade, parents and teachers rated students' externalizing behaviour, and students were administered standardized tests in mathematics, German, and general cognitive abilities. In seventh grade, teachers rated students' task-focused behaviour. In ninth grade, students were again administered standardized tests in mathematics and German, and their grades were obtained from school registries. Structural equation models consistently revealed indirect effects of externalizing behaviour via task-focused behaviour on grades and test scores beyond effects of initial achievement and general cognitive abilities. Result patterns were similar for parents' and teachers' ratings of externalizing behaviour and male and female students. This study extends knowledge about the negative relation between externalizing behaviour and academic achievement in adolescents by showing that there is an indirect relation through task-focused behaviour. Implications are discussed.

Divorce and adolescent academic achievement: Heterogeneity in the associations by parental education.

The link between parental divorce and adolescents' academic achievement may depend on parental educational levels. However, findings have been inconsistent regarding whether the negative associations between parental divorce and adolescents' academic outcomes are greater or smaller in highly educated families. The present study aimed to investigate the possible heterogeneity in the associations between divorce and adolescents' academic achievement by parental educational levels, within the context of the elaborate Norwegian welfare state. The population-based cross-sectional youth@hordaland study of adolescents aged 16-19 years conducted in Norway in 2012, provided information about parental divorce and was linked to national administrative registries (N = 9,166) to obtain high-quality, objective data on the adolescents' grade point average (GPA), and their parents' educational qualifications and income. The negative association between parental divorce and GPA was stronger among adolescents with educated or highly educated parents compared to adolescents with less educated parents. This heterogeneity was driven by maternal educational qualifications, whereby divorce was more strongly and negatively associated with GPA among adolescents with educated mothers compared to those with less educated mothers, independent of paternal educational levels and income measures. Among adolescents whose parents have low educational qualifications, parental divorce is not associated with their academic achievement. Educated divorced mothers appear less likely to transfer their educational advantages onto their children than nondivorced equally educated mothers, perhaps due to a "double-burden" regarding work pressure and child-rearing responsibilities. There is a need for future studies to detail the mechanisms underlying this finding.

Predictors of Adolescent Academic Achievement: The Role of Individual and Family Socioeconomic Factors

Academic achievement is affected by external and internal factors. This study generally aims to examine the influence of family characteristics (per capita income and parental education), individual characteristics (age and gender), cognitive intelligence, and self-regulated learning toward academic achievement in adolescents. A total of 91 samples (Mage=13.9 years) with the largest percentage of the respondents were women were selected from two different junior high schools in Bogor area. Cognitive intelligence, self-regulated learning, and academic achievement were measured using Riley Inventory Basic of Learning Skills (RIBLS), Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSQL), and student academic record, respectively. The partial regression analysis showed there was a negative effect of mother’s education on self-regulated learning. Gender was found to positively predicted cognitive intelligence. The regression analysis also showed that parental education and cognitive intelligence positively predicted adolescent academic achievement. Per capita income, gender, and self-regulated learning showed no significant effects on academic achievement.

Duration matters: peer effects on academic achievement with random assignment in the Chinese context

This paper goes beyond the most popular perspective of family social capital among existing research and examines the effect of peer social capital on adolescent academic achievement. Using the official data from a Chinese university and taking into account the endogeneity problems, this paper finds that peer academic performance has a significant effect on human capital accumulation among university students. We have different findings, however, from research abroad. First, peer social capital has an indirect rather than a direct effect. Second, the influence of initial randomly assigned peers tends to increase over time. However, this increase of influence is only present among peers from similar social class backgrounds. Among peers from different backgrounds, the influence remains almost unchanged. In addition to this, the influence of peer social capital is not significantly different among students from different social class backgrounds.

Predicting academic achievement in adolescents: The role of maturity, intelligence and personality.

Very few studies have examined whether the degree of adolescents' maturity has any effect on their academic performance. Moreover, there are no studies that show whether maturity explains variance additional to that explained by intelligence and personality. For this reason, the main aim of the current study was to determine how psychological maturity, the Big Five personality traits and mental aptitudes contribute to the prediction of adolescent academic performance. 305 adolescents took part in the study. We performed correlations, multiple regression analysis and structural equation analysis. As expected, results show that the main predictor is intelligence. The results also show that there is a relationship between psychological maturity and academic performance, although this is due only to the work orientation subscale. Moreover, conscientiousness influences academic performance because of its relation to the maturity factor work orientation. Likewise, openness to experience is also indirectly related to academic performance, due to its relationship with intelligence. The results of the current study suggest that psychological maturity is related to academic performance. Only two personality traits are correlated to academic performance, conscientiousness and openness to experience, although these traits do not have direct relationships with academic performance.

Growth mindset and academic achievement in Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model of reasoning ability and self-affirmation

Although growth mindset (i.e., the belief that intelligence can be developed) has been shown to play an important role in academic achievement, little is known about the underlying mediating and/or moderating mechanisms in adolescents. The current study investigated (a) the mediating role of reasoning ability in the relationship between growth mindset and academic achievement, and (b) the moderating role of self-affirmation in the direct and indirect relationships between growth mindset and academic achievement. Participants were 1828 Chinese adolescents (age, M = 16.88; 59.4% male). Participants filled out questionnaires regarding growth mindset, academic achievement, reasoning ability, and self-affirmation. After controlling for age, sex, annual family income, hukou (household registered), and parent’s educational level, we found that growth mindset was significantly positively associated with academic achievement. Mediation analysis revealed that reasoning ability partially mediated this relationship. Growth mindset (incremental theories of intelligence) significantly predicted academic achievement in adolescents with high self-affirmation, but not in those with low self-affirmation. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the direct and indirect relationships between growth mindset and academic achievement were moderated by self-affirmation. The indirect effect of growth mindset on academic achievement via reasoning ability was stronger for adolescents with high self-affirmation than in those with low self-affirmation.

Birth by Cesarean Section and Academic Achievement in Adolescents: A Randomized Control Trial

Background: Despite the cesarean section (CS) associated morbidities, only few studies have focused on long-term associations for children delivered by CS. Although some previous studies have suggested association between CS and neurodevelopmental disorders leading to poor academic achievement, none were randomized in design and findings could be at high risks of performance or detection bias. Also, most previous studies suffer from a long-term follow-up time and a lack of adjustment for major confounders. Objectives: To determine the impact of CS birth route on academic achievement among adolescents. Materials and methods: A randomized control trial was conducted in consenting 210 senior secondary 3 students offering economics in four coeducational schools. The mode of delivery was categorised as: vaginal delivery (VD), and cesarean section (CS). Following an initial base line pretest assessment, coeducational schools were randomized into 4 different arms viz Diagnostic Quantitative Economics Skill Test (DQEST) with feedback and remediation (CS=8; VD=52), DQEST with feedback (CS=4; VD=58), DQEST without feedback and remediation (CS=8; VD=35), and no DQEST, (CS=8; VD=37). Seven weeks post-intervention, posttest was done on all the participants to ascertain effect of CS on academic performance. The exclusion criteria were refusal of follow-up and students inability to know their route of birth. The students’ pretest and posttest scores were obtained using a Test of Achievement in Quantitative Economics (TAQE) comprising of 20 multiple-choice questions. Analysis was by SPSS version 23. A p-value ≤0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Of the 210 students randomized, 28 were delivered via CS while 182 were delivered via VD. The mean age was 18.6 ± 3.1 years (16-20 years). The result of pretest revealed no significance difference in the performance between adolescents that were delivered via CS and those delivered via VD in each of the group (P>0.05, for all). Post test results showed that among participants that were randomized into the control group that did not receive any of diagnostic test, feedback or remediation, adolescents delivered via CS performed significantly lower compared with those that had VD (p=0.0393). Conclusion: Without diagnostic test, feedback and/or remediation, adolescents delivered by CS had significantly lower academic achievement. Further research is needed to check the consistency of findings and to identify whether the relationship is causal.

Relationship between Educational and Occupational Status of Parents and their involvement in Adolescents’ Academic Achievements in Agona West Municipality

The study was conducted to know whether education level and occupational status of parents in the Agona West Municipality of Ghana have any significant relationship with parental involvement in adolescent academic achievement. The cross-sectional survey and correlational research designs were employed and data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was self-administered to the 310 basics 8 pupils that were purposively sampled from the 6 randomly selected schools. Findings revealed that, in the Agona West Municipality, education level of both mothers and fathers had a significant relationship with parent’s ability to engage in school based activities of pupils as well as encouraging the pupils with respect to their academic achievement. However, occupational status of only fathers had a significant relationship with parent’s ability to involve in school based activities. Additionally, no significant relationship between a parent’s occupational status and their ability to encourage pupils with respect to their academic achievement was found. The authors provide guidance implications and recommendations based on the findings from the study.

Pathways Between a Polygenic Score for Educational Attainment and Higher Educational Attainment in an African American Sample.

We investigated the extent to which performance on standardized achievement tests, executive function (EF), and aggression in childhood and adolescence accounted for the relationship between a polygenic score for educational attainment (EA PGS) and years of education in a community sample of African Americans. Participants (N = 402; 49.9% female) were initially recruited for an elementary school-based prevention trial in a Mid-Atlantic city and followed into adulthood. In first and twelfth grade, participants completed math and reading standardized tests and teachers reported on participants' aggression and EF, specifically impulsivity and concentration problems. At age 20, participants reported on their years of education and post-secondary degrees attained and their genotype was assayed from blood or buccal swabs. An EA PGS was created using results from a large-scale GWAS on EA. A higher EA PGS was associated with higher education indirectly via adolescent achievement. No other mediating mechanisms were significant. Adolescent academic achievement is thus one mechanism through which polygenic propensity for EA influences post-secondary education among urban, African American youth.

THE ADVERSARY EFFECT OF OBESITY ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Objectives: This study aims to sough implications of the independent and combined demographic variables of weight status, age, food habits, and physical activity on academic achievement in adolescents.
 Methods: The study sample consisted of 940 male students in the second secondary class; four secondary schools from Hail city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in this study during April 2017. Weight status was assessed through body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2). Participants filled the questioner to evaluate food habits and physical activity on academic achievement.
 Results: The mean weight was 74.21±17.36 kg interquartile range (IQR) (45–125), while the mean height was 171.27±7.37 cm IQR (140–193). The mean BMI was 33.73 (IQR 22.0–39.8). The overall prevalence of childhood obesity was 49.6% while the prevalence of overweight was 9.04%. The mean academic score for the second secondary class was 70±9.99 IQR (44–99). BMI has endorsed negatively on academic achievement (r=−0.322, p<0.05).
 Conclusion: We can summarize the independent variables as obesity ameliorates academic achievement in a counteractive way; high BMI affects total academic score in a negative pattern, whereas practicing mental games influenced positively the academic achievement and performance.

Adolescent academic achievement: A model of social support and grit

AbstractGrit has been defined as passionate perseverance toward long‐term challenging goals and it is associated with various positive outcomes for youth, including academic achievement. However, less is known about these associations for the two facets of grit (i.e., perseverance of effort, consistency of interest) and few studies have examined the link between grit and perceived social support. The present study examined the group‐level demographic differences (i.e., gender, grade, socioeconomic status, and special education status) of grit in a high school sample (N = 1,077). In addition, direct associations between grit and perceived social support from multiple sources (i.e., teacher, classmate, parent) were examined, as well as a potential enhancing effect of social support as a moderator of the relation between grit and academic achievement. Results indicated positive associations among grit and its facets with social support from parents and classmates. Furthermore, the positive relation between grit and achievement was stronger for students reporting high social support from teachers, but not other sources (i.e., classmates, parents). Practical and theoretical implications for promoting student success are discussed.

Bidirectional Relation between Paternal/Maternal Psychological Control and Adolescent Behavioral Outcomes

Parental psychological control is considered a destructive form of parenting, which renders adolescents vulnerable to psychosocial maladjustment. Adolescent behavior might also in turn impact parental psychological control, which is, as yet, much less known. Nevertheless, few studies so far on parental psychological control have examined the paternal and maternal dimensions independently. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the longitudinally bidirectional relation between paternal/maternal psychological control and adolescent behavioral outcomes. A total of 434 Chinese adolescents participated at two time points approximately one year apart. At each time point, the participants completed a questionnaire containing measurements of paternal/maternal psychological control, prosocial behavior toward family, friends, and strangers, academic achievement, and demographic information. A cross-lagged model was conducted to test the hypotheses, and good model fit was reached, χ2 (2750) = 4294.45, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMR = 0.06. The main results showed that maternal psychological control was negatively predictive of subsequent prosocial behavior toward friends and strangers, but not toward family or academic achievement, and adolescent academic achievement was longitudinally and negatively related to both paternal and maternal psychological control. The findings support the transactional model of development, which indicates that parenting is changing and also being changed by adolescent behavior. The discussion focuses on understanding the dynamic interplay between parental psychological control and adolescent behavioral outcomes.

School suspension and social selection: Labeling, network change, and adolescent, academic achievement

The growing body of research detailing the pronounced effects of criminal stigma on inequality in the US underscores the importance of labeling theory. In spite of the renewed interest in labeling, little research has evaluated the theoretical mechanisms underlying the theory. Drawing on the labeling perspective, this article evaluates mechanisms underlying the relationship between school punishment and reductions in adolescent academic achievement. It uses recent innovations in longitudinal network analysis to examine the consequences of school punishment as a dynamic interplay of labeling, network selection, and group influence. Results indicate that school punishment facilitates selection into academically underperforming peer networks and that this change in network composition is largely responsible for the association between school punishment and reductions in adolescent academic achievement.

Adjustment and Parental Involvement as Predictors of Academic Achievement of Adolescents

Adjustment and Parental Involvement as Predictors of Academic Achievement of Adolescents

Longitudinal associations of physical activity and pubertal development with academic achievement in adolescents

ObjectiveWe sought to investigate the longitudinal associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and pubertal development with academic achievement in adolescents. MethodsA total of 635 adolescents (283 boys, 352 girls) aged 11–13 years participated in the study. MVPA was assessed by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study questionnaire, and pubertal development was assessed by the Pubertal Development Scale at beginning of the 6th grade (baseline) and end of the 7th grade (follow-up). Grade point average (GPA) at the end of Grades 5 and 7 was computed from data acquired from the school registers. The data were analyzed using linear regression and analyses of covariance. ResultsIn boys, MVPA was positively associated with GPA at baseline after adjustment for age (β = 0.144, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.028−0.260, p = 0.028). In girls, the Pubertal Development Scale was positively associated with GPA at baseline (β = 0.104, 95%CI: −0.004 to 0.211, p = 0.058) and follow-up (β = 0.104, 95%CI: −0.002 to 0.211, p = 0.055) after adjustment for age, and these associations strengthened after further adjustment for MVPA (p < 0.05). Adolescents who were inactive at baseline or at baseline and follow-up had lower GPA during follow-up than their continuously highly active peers (mean difference = −0.301, 95%CI: −0.543 to −0.058, p = 0.009) and all other adolescents (mean difference = −0.247, 95%CI: −0.475 to −0.019, p = 0.029). These differences were greater in girls than in boys. ConclusionLower levels of MVPA were associated with lower GPA in boys at baseline. Girls who were continuously inactive had lower GPA over the follow-up period than those who were continuously active. Finally, earlier pubertal development was associated with better academic achievement in girls.

The Development of Critical Consciousness and its Relation to Academic Achievement in Adolescents of Color.

Critical consciousness, the process by which individuals come to understand, analyze, and take action against systems of oppression, is associated with several positive youth outcomes. However, little research has considered how the core components of critical consciousness (critical reflection, political agency, critical action) are associated with academic achievement. The present study explored the extent to which the developing critical consciousness of adolescents of color (N=364) over 4 years of high school predicted academic achievement, as measured by grade point average (GPA) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Results demonstrated that adolescents' critical reflection and critical action intercepts predicted SAT scores whereas critical reflection and critical action slopes predicted GPAs. Political agency was not predictive of either academic outcome.

Polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer's disease, and academic achievement, cognitive and behavioural measures in children from the general population.

ObjectiveSeveral studies report a polygenic component of risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding whether this polygenic signal is associated with educational, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children could provide an earlier window for intervention.MethodsWe examined whether polygenic risk scores (PRS) at varying P-value thresholds in children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were associated with academic achievement, cognitive and behavioural measures in childhood and adolescence.ResultsWe did not detect any evidence that the genome-wide significant PRS (5x10-8) were associated with these outcomes. PRS at the highest P-value threshold examined (P ≤ 5x10-1) were associated with lower academic achievement in adolescents (Key Stage 3; β: -0.03; 95% confidence interval: -0.05, -0.003) but the effect was attenuated when single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with educational attainment were removed. These PRS were associated with lower IQ (β: -0.04; 95% CI: -0.07, -0.02) at age 8 years with the effect remaining after removing SNPs associated with educational attainment.ConclusionsSNPs mediating the biological effects of Alzheimer’s disease are unlikely to operate early in life. The evidence of association between PRS for Alzheimer’s disease at liberal thresholds and cognitive measures suggest shared genetic pathways between Alzheimer’s disease, academic achievement and cognition.

Social determinants of adolescent smoking over three generations.

Aim: We studied how multigenerational socioeconomic circumstances influence adolescents' smoking. Previous studies have shown that low academic achievement as well as parents' low socioeconomic circumstances are associated with adolescents' smoking, but there are few studies on grandparents' influence on their grandchildren's smoking. For the chain of three generations, we hypothesised that high socioeconomic circumstances of both parents and grandparents decrease the probability of smoking and adolescents' own education and circumstances contribute to this association. We further investigated the role of intergenerational social mobility. Method: Survey data from 1979 to 1997 on 12- to 18-year-old Finns (n=54,487) were linked with 1970-2009 registry-based data of their grandparents, parents and themselves. Socioeconomic circumstances among parents and grandparents were measured by socioeconomic status, education and material resources and among adolescents by academic achievement, educational orientation, family structure and parental smoking. Logistic regression analysis was used to study the associations. Results: Associations of adolescent smoking with grandparental socioeconomic circumstances were weak and mediated through parental circumstances. Parental smoking and divorce and living in a non-intact family increased smoking. Adolescents' low academic achievement and orientation to low education level were the most important predictors of smoking. Upward intergenerational social mobility between fathers and children decreased the risk of smoking, whereas downward mobility increased it. Conclusions: The influence of grandparents' low socioeconomic circumstances on grandchildren's smoking is mediated through parents' socioeconomic circumstances. Low academic achievement in adolescence is a strong predictor of smoking and adolescents orient towards the group of their future education level, not that of their parents.

Role of Different School Systems in Cognitive Abilities &amp; Academic Achievement of Adolescents

The present study compared cognitive abilities and academic achievement of adolescents studying in three different school systems namely Urdu medium schools, English medium schools, and Cambridge system schools. The sample comprised of 1001 secondary school student. Cognitive abilities were assessed by Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (1960) and marks obtained by the students in the last annual examination were used as an index of academic achievement. Results showed that cognitive abilities of the students were positively associated with academic achievement of the respondents. It was further found that cognitive abilities and academic achievement of students studying in Cambridge school system was better as compared to those studying in other systems. Post-hoc comparison revealed that level of academic achievement of Urdu medium schools was lower as compared to English medium and Cambridge system of schools. The findings suggest that difference in schooling system influenced cognitive abilities and academic achievement of the students. Results further demonstrated that gender was a significant predictor of academic achievement in both Urdu and English medium schools. Future implications of the study were also discussed.