Friends' Deviancy and Academic Adjustment: Predictors and Consequences on Early Adolescents' Academic Adjustment and Behavior

Adolescent academic adjustment can be defined by a combination of academic achievement based on grades and a low level of problem behavior in school (Cummings et al., 2002). Because friendship become increasingly important during adolescence, this study looks at the mediating effect of friends’ characteristics (deviancy and academic achievement) in the relation between students’ background (family and individual factors) and future adjustment. We hypothesize that high parental monitoring and low family conflict in Grade 6 will predict student affiliation with peers who achieve good grades and who present low levels of deviancy in Grade 7, which will in turn lead to high student academic achievement and low deviancy in Grade 8. Student own academic achievement and antisocial behavior in Grade 6 will also predict association with well adjusted peers in Grade 7, which will in turn predict student adjustment in Grade 8.     

We recruited 997 students in 3 Oregon middle schools. Students reported on their antisocial behavior, parental monitoring, and family conflict with the CASEY questionnaire (Metzler et al., 1998). Academic achievement was assessed through the student’s school record (grade point average). Students identified their 3 best friends, so their data could be used to measure friends’ own deviancy and academic achievement.

Structural equation modeling (MPlus v7) yielded adequate model fit according to most indices, χ² (8)=17.12, p<.05, CFI=.99, TLI=.97 RMSEA=.03. High-achieving students in Grade 6 associated with high-achieving friends in Grade 7, which resulted in continued achievement and lower levels of deviancy in Grade 8, with a significant indirect (mediation) effect (β=.02, p<.001). Student deviancy (Grade 6) predicted association with deviant friends (Grade 7), which in turn predicted low academic achievement (Grade 8), with a marginal mediation effect (β=-.031, p=.075). Parental monitoring (Grade 6) predicted association with high-achieving friends (Grade 7), which in turn predicted student achievement (Grade 8), with a marginal mediation effect (β=.024, p=.065), but family conflict did not predict students’ friendships.

In conclusion, student own academic achievement was the strongest predictor of academic and behavioral adjustment over time, and this association was mediated through friendship choices. These results show the importance of promoting optimal academic success in young adolescents to prevent school failure, by creating opportunities permitting students with behavior problems to associate with academically adjusted students.