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Academic Growth Trajectories and Family Relationships Among African American Youth
Author(s) -
Dotterer Aryn M.,
Lowe Katie,
McHale Susan M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12080
Subject(s) - psychology , academic achievement , socialization , developmental psychology , longitudinal study , african american , adolescent development , self esteem , ethnology , history , statistics , mathematics
This study explored trajectories of African American youths' academic functioning and assessed whether changes in parent–adolescent relationships were associated with changes in youths' academic functioning. The data were drawn from a 3‐year longitudinal study of gender socialization and development in two‐parent African American families and included 197 families. Findings revealed gender differences in achievement trajectories and indicated that boys not only had lower levels of academic achievement compared to girls, but also experienced steeper declines in school self‐esteem during adolescence. Changes in parent–adolescent relationship quality were linked to changes in academic functioning: Increases in conflict were related to decreases in GPA , school bonding, and school self‐esteem and increases in warmth were related to increases in school bonding and school self‐esteem.