Andrea Hopmeyer Gorman

Community Violence Exposure and Children's Academic Functioning

This study reports a cross-sectional investigation of the link between community violence exposure and academic difficulties for 237 urban elementary school children (mean age of 9.5 years). Children completed a self-report inventory assessing exposure to community violence. Their achievement test scores and GPAs were obtained from school records, and other aspects of psychosocial adjustment were assessed with a multi-informant approach. Analyses indicated that community violence exposure was associated with poor academic performance. These relations appeared to be mediated by symptoms of depression and disruptive behavior and remained significant even after the prediction associated with bullying by peers was controlled.

Popularity, Social Acceptance, and Aggression in Adolescent Peer Groups: Links with Academic Performance and School Attendance

This article reports a short-term longitudinal study focusing on popularity and social acceptance as predictors of academic engagement for a sample of 342 adolescents (approximate average age of 14). These youths were followed for 4 consecutive semesters. Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression were assessed with a peer nomination inventory, and data on academic engagement were obtained from school records. For adolescents who were highly aggressive, increases in popularity were associated with increases in unexplained absences and decreases in grade point average. Conversely, changes in social acceptance were not predictive of changes in grade point average or unexplained absences. These results highlight the importance of multidimensional conceptualizations of social standing for research on school adjustment during adolescence and emphasize the potential risks associated with popularity.

Peer Relationships and Academic Achievement as Interacting Predictors of Depressive Symptoms During Middle Childhood

This article reports a longitudinal investigation that examines academic and social difficulties as predictors of depressive symptoms during middle childhood. Participants were 199 elementary school children (M=9.1 years) who were followed for 2 consecutive school years. In both years of the project, children completed a questionnaire assessing depressive symptoms and a peer nomination inventory assessing friendships and social standing. Grade point averages (GPAs) were obtained from a review of school records. Low GPAs were predictive of depressive symptoms, but this effect did not hold for children who had numerous friends. Similarly, children who had relatively few friends tended to experience depressive symptoms. However, the effect was attenuated for children with high GPAs. Taken together, the findings suggest that competencies in 1 domain can moderate the risks associated with difficulties in the other domain.