Reappraising academic and social adversity improves middle school students' academic achievement, behavior, and well-being
Reappraising academic and social adversity improves middle school students' academic achievement, behavior, and well-being
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1820317116
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发表时间：
2019-08-13
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Hanselman, Paul
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Borman, Geoffrey D.;Rozek, Christopher S.;Hanselman, Paul
青春期早期的特点是发生巨大的变化，同时影响生理、心理、社会和认知的发展。从小学到中学的身体过渡可能会加剧这个关键人生阶段所经历的压力和逆境。中学生常常难以找到社交和情感支持，许多学生在学校的归属感下降，使学生偏离了有前途的学业和职业轨迹。借鉴促进归属感的心理学见解，我们进行了一项简短的干预，旨在帮助学生重新评估初中开始时对融入的担忧，因为这是暂时的和正常的。我们针对中学生（n = 1,304）对这种方法进行了全区范围的双盲实验研究。与控制条件活动相比，干预措施使全区六年级纪律事件减少了 34%，出勤率提高了 12%，不及格成绩数量减少了 18%。不同人口群体的福利差异在统计上并不显着，但对于历史上服务不足的少数族裔学生和男孩来说，一些影响明显更大。一项中介分析表明，80% 的长期干预对学生平均绩点的影响是由学生态度和行为的变化造成的。这些结果证明了在关键转变期间从心理上重新评估压力经历以及支持它们的心理和行为机制的长期好处。此外，这种简短的干预是一种极具成本效益和可扩展的方法，学校可以利用它来帮助解决通常伴随青春期和中学过渡的积极态度和学业成绩下降的问题。
The period of early adolescence is characterized by dramatic changes, simultaneously affecting physiological, psychological, social, and cognitive development. The physical transition from elementary to middle school can exacerbate the stress and adversity experienced during this critical life stage. Middle school students often struggle to find social and emotional support, and many students experience a decreased sense of belonging in school, diverting students from promising academic and career trajectories. Drawing on psychological insights for promoting belonging, we fielded a brief intervention designed to help students reappraise concerns about fitting in at the start of middle school as both temporary and normal. We conducted a district-wide double-blind experimental study of this approach with middle school students (n = 1,304). Compared with the control condition activities, the intervention reduced sixth-grade disciplinary incidents across the district by 34%, increased attendance by 12%, and reduced the number of failing grades by 18%. Differences in benefits across demographic groups were not statistically significant, but some impacts were descriptively larger for historically underserved minority students and boys. A mediational analysis suggested 80% of long-term intervention effects on students' grade point averages were accounted for by changes in students' attitudes and behaviors. These results demonstrate the long-term benefits of psychologically reappraising stressful experiences during critical transitions and the psychological and behavioral mechanisms that support them. Furthermore, this brief intervention is a highly cost-effective and scalable approach that schools may use to help address the troubling decline in positive attitudes and academic outcomes typically accompanying adolescence and the middle school transition.