Transition to middle school is a turbulent time of development in which friends
have growing impact on adolescents’ academic adjustment. Structural equation
modeling was used to examine the unique and joint contributions of academically
oriented and deviant close friends on reading and math achievement, competence beliefs
in reading and math, and engagement during the transition into middle school. The
sample was 652 (53.4 percent male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk students.
Within-wave associations between peer affiliation and outcome variables were
found in the expected directions. Outcome variables were highly stable. The model
yielded adequate fit of the data. Contrary to expectations, neither peer affiliation variable
(academically-oriented friends or deviant friends) contributed to year 6 outcomes,
controlling for year 5 outcomes, nor did the two affiliation variables interact in
predicting changes in outcomes. Affiliation with close friends was moderately stable
over time and affiliation with learning oriented friends was positively associated with the academic outcomes and affiliation with deviant friends was negatively associated with
the academic outcomes.
Close friendships may change so rapidly that a relationship between close friend
affiliation at any one point in time is not predictive of changes in one’s engagement,
competence beliefs, or achievement. Future research that examines peer relationships
and academic competencies across a longer period of time and more frequently may
allow for a clearer understanding of relationships among peer affiliation and academic
outcomes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-08-8172 |
| Date | 2010 August 1900 |
| Creators | Dyer, Nicole Estelle |
| Contributors | Hughes, Jan |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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