Having Someone to Talk: Buffers of High School Maladaptation?

• In Event: Positive Development Among Adolescents: Fostering Achievement and Well-Being in Today's Youth

Abstract

Students in the first year of high school with low GPAs are at risk for developing maladaptive academic behaviors. This exploratory study aims to examine whether adolescents’ talking about their academic and personal issues to various individuals during the high school transition year can buffer against the negative consequences associated with poor academic performance. Using a large nationally representative sample (22,940 students from 690 U.S. schools), we found that students with lower 9th-grade GPA were more likely to utilize maladaptive academic behaviors during the 11th-grade. This negative association, however, became less strong when students either (a) talked to their mothers and teachers about academic issues, or (b) talked to their teachers about long-term life issues.

Authors

• Seung Yon Ha, The Ohio State University

• Eric M. Anderman, The Ohio State University