A longitudinal study of adolescents’ academic self-concept and their perceptions of home environment and classroom climate

Abstract

The 3-year longitudinal study of a single cohort (N = 495, average age 13) in Singapore used cluster analytic approach to identify trajectories of adolescents’ academic self concept and their perceptions of home environment and classroom climate. Four trajectories were identified. They were (1) steeply decreasing, (2) consistently low, (3) moderate and maintaining, and (4) consistently high. Higher-ability stream students were more likely than lower-ability stream students to be in the steeply decreasing group, while adolescents with better Secondary 1 and 2 class positions were more likely to be in the consistently high group. The results suggest that there are unique groups of adolescents in Singapore secondary schools. Some adolescents may have difficulties in adjusting to changes in adolescence; others may have struggled to cope long before they reach adolescence. Some adolescents may face minor ‘hiccups’ during adjustments while others may cope adequately on their own. As such, the notion of a single theory of adolescence may be too simplistic. Presumably, competing or conflicting theories of adolescence such as Hall’s (1904) ‘storm and stress’ theory and Rutter’s (1987) resiliency model may in fact all be relevant, albeit for different subgroups of youth.