%0 Journal Article
%T How Do Individual Predispositions and Family Dynamics Contribute to Academic Adjustment Through the Middle School Years? The Mediating Role of FriendsĄŻ Characteristics
%A Alexandra Oliveira Paiva
%A Marie Claire Vaillancourt
%A Marie-H¨Śl¨¨ne V¨Śronneau
%A Thomas J. Dishion
%J The Journal of Early Adolescence
%@ 1552-5449
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0272431618776124
%X This study examined the mediating effect of friendsĄŻ characteristics (problem behavior and academic achievement) in the association between studentsĄŻ background (family and individual factors) and later academic adjustment, as operationalized by problem behavior and academic achievement. We recruited 998 participants in three public middle schools and used three annual waves of data collection (Grades 6, 7, and 8). We found that studentsĄŻ own academic achievement and problem bahvior are predictors of later adjustment. Friendship choices are identified as a mediation mechanism that contributes to consistent adjustment from the beginning to the end of middle school. Specifically, high-achieving students in Grade 6 tend to associate with high-achieving friends and are unlikely to associate with friends who exhibit problem behavior in Grade 7, which results in continued achievement in Grade 8. Associating with high-achieving friends in Grade 7 also mediated the link between adolescent problem behavior in Grade 6 and academic achievement by Grade 8. FriendsĄŻ characteristics in Grade 7 did not mediate the effect of any family factor measured in Grade 6. In general, our results suggest friendship selection is central to sustained success throughout the middle school years
%K middle school students
%K parent-child relation
%K friendship
%K academic achievement
%K problem behavior
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0272431618776124