Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, 1701 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2013 Apr-Jul;83(2 Pt 3):265-77. doi: 10.1111/ajop.12039.
The transition to middle school often presents behavioral and academic challenges to youths. Boys of color (i.e., African American and Hispanic in this study) may be especially vulnerable. In this study, peer nominations of aggressive and academic behaviors as well as youths' perceptions of how these behaviors were related to popularity in peer networks were obtained from the spring semester of fifth grade through the spring semester of seventh grade, with the transition occurring as the students entered the sixth grade. The sample included 188 boys (71 Caucasian, 90 African American, and 27 Hispanic) from an urban school district in the northeastern United States. Trajectory analyses showed that African American boys scored lower in studentship and higher in rule-breaking and aggressive (both physical and social) behaviors prior to the transition, and such differences among ethnic groups were largely maintained during the transition. Hispanic boys displayed decreases in their studentship during the transition. African American boys' perception of how studentship affects popularity was more positive than other boys prior to the transition, but it decreased during the transition. African American boys also endorsed rule breaking and physical and social aggression more positively for popularity prior to the transition, whereas Caucasian and Hispanic boys' endorsement increased during the transition and eventually caught up with those of African American boys in seventh grade. A positive within-individual association was found between youths' popularity perception and their behavior for studentship, rule breaking, and physical aggression, which did not differ by ethnicity.
青少年从小学升入中学通常会面临行为和学业方面的挑战。有色人种男孩（本研究中为非裔美国人和西班牙裔）可能尤其脆弱。在这项研究中，从五年级春季学期到七年级春季学期，通过同伴提名获得了攻击性和学业行为以及青少年对这些行为如何与同伴网络中的受欢迎程度相关的看法，过渡发生在学生进入六年级的时候。该样本包括来自美国东北部一个城市学区的 188 名男孩（71 名白人、90 名非裔美国人和 27 名西班牙裔）。轨迹分析表明，在过渡之前，非裔美国男孩的学生行为得分较低，违反规则和攻击性（身体和社交）行为得分较高，而这种种族群体之间的差异在过渡期间基本保持不变。西班牙裔男孩在过渡期间的学生行为有所下降。在过渡之前，非裔美国男孩对学生行为如何影响受欢迎程度的看法比其他男孩更积极，但在过渡期间这种看法有所下降。在过渡之前，非裔美国男孩也更积极地支持违反规则和身体及社交攻击以获得受欢迎程度，而白人和西班牙裔男孩的支持率在过渡期间增加，并最终在七年级赶上了非裔美国男孩。研究发现，青少年的受欢迎程度感知与其学生行为、违反规则行为和身体攻击行为之间存在积极的个体内关联，这种关联不受种族的影响。
