The principal objective of this longitudinal study is to examine the unique and/or joint contributions of specific child behavioral styles (aggression, social withdrawal) and interpersonal supports (peer, teacher, parent) to children's school adjustment during early and middle grade school. A related aim is to determine how children's behavioral styles and interpersonal supports increase or decrease their risk for academic and social adjustment problems as they enter grade school, and progress through the primary grades. Children will be identified prior to grade-school entrance and assessed as they progress through kindergarten (Phase 1), and the primary grades (Phase 2). Two cohorts will be identified and followed using a modified longitudinal-sequential design. The measures of school adjustment employed during each phase of the investigation are intended to tap the development of: (a) positive vs. negative school perceptions, (b) classroom anxiety, (c) school avoidance, and (d) scholastic progress. In addition to children's aggressive and withdrawn behavioral styles, several forms of interpersonal support will be measured as they enter and progress in school, including supportive vs. stressful features of their relationships with teachers, parents, and classroom peers. Two different predictive models, analogous to the compensatory and protective models proposed by Garmezy, et al., (1984) will provide a framework for testing alternative hypotheses concerning the unique and/or joint contributions of children's behavioral styles and interpersonal supports to early school adjustment. Additional analyses will be employed to determine whether findings are qualified by family demographic variables, and whether the types of adjustment difficulties children display following school entrance (e.g., academic vs. social) bear on the types of adjustment outcomes they experience later in grade school. Thus, this investigation promises to yield evidence that can be used to assemble a comprehensive model of school adjustment that takes into account demographic factors, behavioral risk factors in the child, and supportive features of the child's interpersonal environments.
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