This study aimed to investigate how children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) adjust to school when compared to typically developing students. The convenience sample consisted of 135 children--27 with ADHD and 108 in the control group--and 19 prevalent teachers from 6 primary and secondary schools in Northwest Italy. Children…

Academic performance (i.e., grade point average) determines career entry factors as well as career success and is thus crucial for students' future careers. Besides individual factors such as personality traits, individuals' social embeddedness has been shown to enhance performance. Regarding academic performance, relationships to fellow students…

This study investigated how two aspects of the classroom environment (teachers' emphasis on mastery goals and descriptive norms (i.e., the average student disruptive, prosocial, and achievement-related behavior in a classroom), moderated the relationship between student behaviors and coolness. The sample included 976 students nested in 54 fifth-…

Perceptions of the ecology and middle school transition are examined in relation to interpersonal competence patterns (ICPs) of approximately 3,000 sixth graders (46.2% boys) including 415 students with disabilities from 26 metropolitan schools. Teacher ratings of students' academic competence, externalizing and internalizing behavior, popularity,…

Changing from elementary to secondary school is a life event that every child has to pass. Previous research has shown that some children feel more threatened by the transition than others. In the present study children's expectations concerning the impending transition to secondary school were analyzed and it was investigated how individual…

The present study investigated the role of teacher-rated likeability as a mediator of the relation between low academic competence and depressive symptoms in elementary-aged children. Analyses focused on a sample of children at risk for child maltreatment living in Hawaii (n = 380). Structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized negative…

Peer status is an important indicator and predictor of adjustment. While gifted children tend to enjoy favorable peer status, their social functioning during adolescence is less clear. The current study seeks to enhance this understanding by examining both preference- and reputation-based peer status of gifted adolescents. Peer nominations were…

In this two-wave longitudinal study, concurrent and longitudinal relations among teacher-reported shyness, peer acceptance, and academic achievement were examined (Ns = 162 and 155; and Ms[subscript age] = 6.09 and 7.07 years). Concurrently, at both times, shyness was negatively related to peer acceptance and academic achievement, and peer…

Research by Xinyin Chen and others has documented that in past decades, shyness in Chinese children was associated with leadership, peer-acceptance, and academic achievement. In contemporary China, shyness predicts maladaptive youth outcomes. Although social, political, and economic transitions are presumed to be responsible for this shift, little…

The transition from primary to secondary school is a challenge, particularly for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). International studies report the perceptions and experiences of different involved stakeholders during the primary-secondary transition in this specific context. Since the 1980s, the French education system has put in…

In this research, we examined cross-domain effects of achievement goals. In two experimental studies, we manipulated achievement goals and assessed social reactions towards a hypothetical (study 1) and a real (study 2) target. Measurement of social reactions included prosocial behaviours such as helping, sharing and cooperating with others.…

This mixed-method research explores how students (ages 12-15) describe dispositional qualities for belonging and fitting in one junior high school. Inductive coding of open-ended responses about perceptions of belonging in school shows candor about the emotional performances and management of emotions for belonging at school. Recommendations for…

Using the ecological approach, the goal of this study was to determine the predictors of physical and verbal peer aggressive behavior. The participants were 880 school students from the fifth to eighth grade (48% boys and 52% girls) and the same number of parents (19% fathers and 61% mothers) as well as 107 teachers. The main analysis was…

This study examined interrelations between three indicators of main challenges during adolescence: academic achievement, self-perceived peer acceptance, and self-esteem. An additional aim was to investigate whether the findings hold for girls and boys and across school types (academically oriented track vs. non-academically oriented track). We…

This research sought to determine if a teaching intervention using tutors in a South African university could promote epistemological access to university for first-year students. Although hiring, developing and managing tutors takes money, time and energy, the effectiveness of tutors in the South African context is underreported. The first-year…