Self-perceptions Of Academic Competence Research Articles

The Relationship Between Campus Climate Perceptions, Anxiety, and Academic Competence for College Women

This study is guided by theory and research that point to the importance of campus climate as a critical factor in college student achievement and belonging. Minoritized groups, however, are often found to have negative experiences on college campuses due to their marginalized racial and gender positions. For college women specifically, there is research that points to college climates that engender feelings of alienation and distancing, especially at the intersection of being of color and a woman. This study examines the association between campus climate—belonging and campus racial climate—and self-perceived academic competence in a racially diverse sample of college women (N = 172). We also test the mediating role of anxiety to explain why campus might influence academic competence. Campus belonging significantly predicted academic competence, and anxiety was a partial mediator. These findings demonstrate the implications of hostile environments for college women, and they point to ways college student affairs professionals can intervene to lend support to college women's mental health and positive self-concepts.

Enjoyment of Chinese and mathematics and school performance in Chinese children and adolescents.

This 2-year longitudinal study examined relations between enjoyment of learning in Chinese and mathematics, two major subjects in Chinese schools, and indexes of school performance. The participants included 1041 students (501 boys) initially in third, fifth, and seventh grades (mean age=10.49 years) in China. Data on enjoyment of Chinese and mathematics were collected from students' self-reports and data on school performance were collected from multiple sources in 2017 and 2019. The results showed that enjoyment of mathematics positively predicted later academic achievement, self-perceptions of academic competence, teacher-rated school competence, and peer-assessed leadership-social competence. Enjoyment of Chinese negatively predicted later mathematics achievement and self-perceptions of academic competence and nonsignificantly predicted other school performance variables. The results were discussed in Chinese context.

The role of self-perceived academic competence in children with childhood-onset fluency disorder

The aim of the present study was to investigate the five different components of self-perception (academic competence, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance and school behavior), and to identify the dimensions that affect self-esteem in children with Childhood onset Fluency Disorder (CoFD). The study sample consisted of thirty children with CoFD and, as controls, thirty children without CoFD, aged from 9 to 11;7 years old. The following instruments were used: (1) the Greek version of Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), (2) the “Children's Phonetic and Phonological development assessment” and, (3) a demographic characteristics form. Results revealed that while children with CoFD did report lower perceived academic competence than did those of the control group, and their academic competence self-perception shaped both their self-esteem and their school behavior self-perception. Moreover, academic competence self-perception was found to mediate in the relationship between CoFD, self-esteem and school behavior self-perception. Perceived academic competence in children with CoFD is linked to self-esteem and perceived school behavior, and this may impact on their relationships, emotional health and overall well-being. Health professionals should become able to estimate coexisting psychological difficulties and negative behaviors of parents or teachers that may affect the children's self-esteem. Furthermore, they should be able to suggest targeted psychological interventions for children and parents, while in the same frame teachers need to be properly trained about the management of stuttering in the classroom. The role of the speech therapist in the school context for in-service provision of information is therefore considered to be of paramount importance.

Cross-ethnic friendship and prosocial behavior's potential significance to elementary children's academic competence

ABSTRACTThe authors, with Swedish elementary school students (N = 201), 9–12 years old, examined the potential significance to self-perceived academic competence of students' cross-ethnic friendship ties and prosocial behavior to better understand education's minority achievement gap. A crossed-lagged panel model was tested to investigate potential relationships between these variables over time, while controlling for temporal associations. The results revealed that higher levels of prosocial behavior were related to more positive academic performance six months later. However, higher levels of cross-ethnic friendship did not. The findings further establish the predictive influence of prosocial behavior on academic competence, indicating that this over-time relation is applicable also in the North European context, with its increasingly diverse ethnicity.

Dispositional Hope as a Moderator of the Link Between Social Comparison With Friends and Eighth-Grade Students’ Perceptions of Academic Competence

We examined the link between social comparison with friends and self-perceptions of academic competence during adolescence and how personality may play a role in this link. Participants were 193 eighth-grade students who attended a rural, mid-Atlantic middle school. We used difference scores to measure the extent to which students’ nominated and reciprocated friends had higher academic performance in math and reading than the students themselves. Regression analyses revealed that, as students’ friends had higher math test scores than the students themselves, students’ academic self-competence decreased. For reading, however, a similar result only held for students with higher levels of dispositional hope. The role that hope plays in how students interpret unfavorable social comparisons, and in how they view their academic competence, may not be straightforward. The implications of social comparison may also vary across academic domains.

Early adolescent depression symptoms and school dropout: Mediating processes involving self-reported academic competence and achievement.

Research on adolescent well-being has shown that students with depression have an increased risk of facing academic failure, yet few studies have looked at the implications of adolescent depression in the process of school dropout. This study examined mediation processes linking depression symptoms, self-perceived academic competence, and self-reported achievement in 7th grade to dropping out of school in later adolescence. We followed 493 (228 girls and 265 boys) French-speaking adolescents from low-socioeconomic-status secondary schools in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) for 6 years. Almost 34% of participants dropped out of school during this period. Findings indicated that self-reported depression symptoms in 7th grade increased the risk of dropping out of school in later adolescence. Structural equation modeling revealed that the predictive relationship between depression symptoms and school dropout was mediated by self-perceptions of academic competence. Current findings provide support for self-perceptions of competence as mediational processes in the relationship between adolescent depression symptoms and early school leaving.

Judgments of self-perceived academic competence and their differential impact on students’ achievement motivation, learning approach, and academic performance

Using path analysis, the present study focuses on the development of a model describing the impact of four judgments of self-perceived academic competence on higher education students’ achievement goals, learning approach, and academic performance. Results demonstrate that academic self-efficacy, self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, academic self-concept, and perceived level of understanding are conceptually and empirically distinct self-appraisals of academic competence which have a different impact on student motivation, learning, and academic performance. Furthermore, the current study suggests that students reflecting high scores on the four measures of self-perceived competence, are more persistent, more likely to adopt mastery and/or performance approach goals, less anxious, process the learning material at a deeper level, and achieve better study results. However, this study also warns that high self-perceived competence (e.g., perceived level of understanding), if not accompanied by a mastery goal orientation, can turn into overconfidence resulting in lower persistence levels and poorer study results.

The development of academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied

Using data from the first three waves (Grades 5, 6, and 7) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, this study assessed if being a bully or being a victim accounts for an adolescent's academic competence, if selected contextual and individual variables impact an adolescent's academic competence, and if such impact differs in relation to an adolescent's bullying status. The results of random coefficient hierarchical regression analyses indicated that being a bully predicted lower grades across time, and that being a bully was more detrimental for girls than for boys. Being a bully and being a victim negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence, but these predictive effects did not change over time or differ by sex. Teacher support positively predicted grades and greater parent support and teacher support independently predicted higher self-perceive academic competence. Greater educational expectations and school engagement independently predicted higher self-reported grades, while these two predictors positively interacted in explaining self-perceived academic competence. Unexpectedly, peer support negatively predicted self-reported grades for victims, and negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence for bullies. We discuss the importance of addressing the issue of academic competence in bullying interventions, as well as the utility of capitalizing on developmental assets in promoting academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied.

School Functioning in Adolescents With Chronic Pain: The Role of Depressive Symptoms in School Impairment

To explore associations between depressive symptoms and school functioning, including school attendance, academic performance, self-perceived academic competence, and teacher-rated school adjustment among predominantly Caucasian and female adolescent chronic pain patients. A total of 217 clinically referred adolescents (aged 12-17 years) and their parents completed measures of pain characteristics, depression, and school functioning. Additional data were collected from school records and teacher reports. Depressive symptoms strongly correlated with school functioning indicators. In linear regression analyses, higher levels of depressive symptoms predicted more school impairment. A model testing whether depressive symptoms mediated the association between current pain intensity and parent perceptions of the interference of pain on school functioning was supported by the data. Depressive symptoms play a key role in influencing the extent of school impairment in adolescents with chronic pain. Interventions to alleviate depressive symptoms may enhance treatments designed to improve school functioning in this population.

Relations of Perceived Maternal Parenting Style, Practices, and Learning Motivation to Academic Competence in Chinese Children

A measure of academic parenting practices was developed through parent and teacher interviews and subsequently administered to 91 Hong Kong Chinese fifth graders, who also rated their mothers' restrictiveness and concern, school motivation, and self-perceived academic competence. Children's actual school grades were obtained from school records. The new measure of parenting practices exhibited satisfactory factorial validity and reliability. Perceived parenting styles of concern and restrictiveness, although theoretically independent, were highly associated. Perceived maternal practices of support and encouragement explained unique variance in children's learning motivation. Achievement demands, together with restrictive parenting style, explained children's actual academic performances. Children's mastery motivation, but not maternal socialization practices and style, explained children's perceived competence. Findings are in line with existing models of family interaction (e.g., Kagitcibasi, 2005) and underscore the importance of specific parenting practices as well as general parenting styles in explaining different socialization outcomes in children (Darling & Steinberg, 1993).

Maternal Perceptions of Competence and Children’s Academic Adjustment: Longitudinal Relations across Early Elementary School

Children’s perceptions of their academic ability play an important role in their academic adjustment, but relatively little research has examined the factors affecting academic self perceptions of young children, especially the role of parents. Seventy-seven children and their mothers were followed longitudinally from kindergarten to fourth grade to assess the association between mothers’ early perceptions of children’s academic abilities in reading and math and children’s later academic adjustment. Mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading ability in kindergarten were associated with children’s later self-perceptions of academic competence and later achievement, above and beyond kindergarten achievement. However, mothers’ perceptions of math ability in kindergarten were not significantly associated with later outcomes. In reading, mothers’ perceptions of children’s natural talent were positively associated with later self-perceptions and mothers’ perceptions of children’s difficulty in school were negatively associated with later self-perceptions. Additionally, mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading competence were positively associated with later reading achievement. This was the youngest sample in which these relations have been examined to date. Longer-term implications for early parental perceptions are discussed.

A Longitudinal-Sequential Study of Perceived Academic Competence and Motivational Beliefs for Learning Among Children in Middle School

The extent to which changes in children's self-assessments of their competence to master academic material are influenced by their developing beliefs about the causes of academic outcomes, goal orientation for learning, and study strategy use were examined in a longitudinal-sequential study. Fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders who transitioned to the middle level within the same school were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire for three consecutive years. Nearly two-thirds of the children were members of minority groups and slightly more than half were female students. Results showed that ability attributions for successful outcomes, mastery orientation, persistence, and self-monitoring strategy use predicted concurrent perceptions of academic competence for all grade levels. Initial self-perceived competence strongly predicted perceived academic competence one year later. No significant grade-level differences in self-perceptions of academic competence were found. The results were discussed in terms of a developing academic self-image.

Predicting changes in children's self-perceptions of academic competence: A naturalistic examination of evaluative discourse among classmates.

Classroom discourse was examined as a predictor of changes in children's beliefs about their academic capabilities. Kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students (N = 106) participated in 2 waves of data collection, approximately 1 year apart. During the 1st year of the study, children's verbal interactions with their classmates were observed and recorded. Children rated their self-perceptions of academic competence during the 1st and 2nd years. Analyses revealed that changes over time in children's competence perceptions could be predicted from the types of statements that children made and had directed toward them by classmates. Examining sequences of child and classmate statements proved helpful in explaining the observed changes in children's perceptions of competence.

Predicting changes in children's self-perceptions of academic competence: a naturalistic examination of evaluative discourse among classmates.

Classroom discourse was examined as a predictor of changes in children's beliefs about their academic capabilities. Kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students (N = 106) participated in 2 waves of data collection, approximately 1 year apart. During the 1st year of the study, children's verbal interactions with their classmates were observed and recorded. Children rated their self-perceptions of academic competence during the 1st and 2nd years. Analyses revealed that changes over time in children's competence perceptions could be predicted from the types of statements that children made and had directed toward them by classmates. Examining sequences of child and classmate statements proved helpful in explaining the observed changes in children's perceptions of competence.

STUDENTS' SELF-EFFICACY IN THEIR SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES: A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to provide a developmental perspective on students’ self-efficacy in their self-regulatory learning strategies using data obtained from cohort groups of students ranging from age 9 to 17 (N=1257), to determine whether this confidence differs as a function of gender, and to discover whether these differences are a function of gender orientation beliefs rather than of gender. Confidence in self-regulation decreased as students progressed from elementary school to high school, and the decrease was steeper than a similar decrease in self-perceptions of academic competence. Gender differences favored girls, but these differences were rendered nonsignificant when gender orientation beliefs were controlled. Instead, a feminine orientation was particularly adaptive. Findings support the contentions of researchers who have argued that gender differences in academic motivation may be a function of the stereotypical beliefs that students hold about gender.

Self-Perceived Competencies and Depression among Middle School Students in Japan and the United States

Predictors of self-reported depressive symptoms were investigated within groups of 125 middle school students from the United States and 99 middle school students from Japan. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-perceptions of physical attractiveness, social acceptance, and behavioral conduct independently contributed to self-reported depression among United States students. Self-perceptions of interpersonal connectedness, peer social acceptance, behavioral conduct, and physical attractiveness independently contributed to self-reported depression among Japanese students. Self-perceptions of academic competence were not an independent predictor of depression in either group. In addition to revealing critical relations between specific domains of perceived competence and depression during early adolescence within each group of students, results indicated that common beliefs regarding associations between Japanese students' perceived academic competence and level of emotional distress may reflect an exception rather than a rule. Implications for preventive interventions and further research are discussed.

Assessing Similarity and Middle-School Students' Self-Perceived Academic Competence

An index of similarity can measure absolute agreement between pairs (e.g., student-teacher, student-parent, student-peer) on corresponding self-report items related to perceived academic competence. Differing similarity between pairs may affect middle-school students' self-perception of actual scholastic competence and achievement.