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Family Belongingness, Gang Friendships, and Psychological Distress in Adolescent Achievement
Author(s) -
Baskin Thomas W.,
Quintana Stephen M.,
Slaten Christopher D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00166.x
Subject(s) - belongingness , ethnically diverse , ethnic group , psychology , academic achievement , psychological distress , distress , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , mental health , sociology , psychotherapist , anthropology
The authors investigated connections among social, psychological, and academic functioning of ethnically diverse urban youth. Participants included 310 seventh graders (mean age = 12.10 years) from an ethnically diverse middle school in which no ethnic group was a majority. Social engagements with family and gang members were predictive of academic achievement in the expected directions, with psychological distress mediating the effects of these social engagements on academic achievement. Implications for counselors’ work with ethnically diverse urban youth are discussed.