Aggression, academic behaviors, and popularity perceptions among boys of color during the transition to middle school

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9051244
AutoresHongling Xie (Temple University), Molly Dawes (0000-0002-6029-0420, Temple University), Tabitha J Wurster (Temple University), Bing Shi (0000-0003-1724-7264)
Año2013
Volumen83
Número2-3
Páginas265-277
Fecha de publicación2013-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Orthopsychiatry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-9432 • E-ISSN: 1939-0025
EditorialAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/ajop.12039
PMID23889018
OpenAlexW2090222108
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas40

The transition to middle school often presents behavioral and academic challenges to youths. Boys of color (i.e., African American and Hispanic in this study) may be especially vulnerable. In this study, peer nominations of aggressive and academic behaviors as well as youths' perceptions of how these behaviors were related to popularity in peer networks were obtained from the spring semester of fifth grade through the spring semester of seventh grade, with the transition occurring as the students entered the sixth grade. The sample included 188 boys (71 Caucasian, 90 African American, and 27 Hispanic) from an urban school district in the northeastern United States. Trajectory analyses showed that African American boys scored lower in studentship and higher in rule-breaking and aggressive (both physical and social) behaviors prior to the transition, and such differences among ethnic groups were largely maintained during the transition. Hispanic boys displayed decreases in their studentship during the transition. African American boys' perception of how studentship affects popularity was more positive than other boys prior to the transition, but it decreased during the transition. African American boys also endorsed rule breaking and physical and social aggression more positively for popularity prior to the transition, whereas Caucasian and Hispanic boys' endorsement increased during the transition and eventually caught up with those of African American boys in seventh grade. A positive within-individual association was found between youths' popularity perception and their behavior for studentship, rule breaking, and physical aggression, which did not differ by ethnicity

Aggression · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Injury prevention · Peer group · Perception · Poison control · Popularity · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Demography · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support