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Exploring Early Adolescents' Adjustment Across The Middle School Transition: The Role Of Peer Experiences And Social-Cognitive Factors, James E. Newman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to consider the role of early adolescents' peer experiences (i.e., peer acceptance, number of mutual hends, friendship quality) in predicting their adjustment across the transition from elementary to middle school, and to examine whether students' goals and attributions added to the prediction of adjustment, above and beyond the peer variables. The second goal was to include a comprehensive assessment of participants' adjustment (i.e., loneliness, depression, self-esteem, school involvement, academic achievement, school avoidance) and to investigate changes in the adjustment variables across the transition to middle school. Finally, this study examined potential gender differences …