School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706;
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Aug 13;116(33):16286-16291. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1820317116. Epub 2019 Jul 29.
The period of early adolescence is characterized by dramatic changes, simultaneously affecting physiological, psychological, social, and cognitive development. The physical transition from elementary to middle school can exacerbate the stress and adversity experienced during this critical life stage. Middle school students often struggle to find social and emotional support, and many students experience a decreased sense of belonging in school, diverting students from promising academic and career trajectories. Drawing on psychological insights for promoting belonging, we fielded a brief intervention designed to help students reappraise concerns about fitting in at the start of middle school as both temporary and normal. We conducted a district-wide double-blind experimental study of this approach with middle school students ( = 1,304). Compared with the control condition activities, the intervention reduced sixth-grade disciplinary incidents across the district by 34%, increased attendance by 12%, and reduced the number of failing grades by 18%. Differences in benefits across demographic groups were not statistically significant, but some impacts were descriptively larger for historically underserved minority students and boys. A mediational analysis suggested 80% of long-term intervention effects on students' grade point averages were accounted for by changes in students' attitudes and behaviors. These results demonstrate the long-term benefits of psychologically reappraising stressful experiences during critical transitions and the psychological and behavioral mechanisms that support them. Furthermore, this brief intervention is a highly cost-effective and scalable approach that schools may use to help address the troubling decline in positive attitudes and academic outcomes typically accompanying adolescence and the middle school transition.
青春期早期的特点是急剧变化，同时影响生理、心理、社会和认知发展。从小学到中学的身体过渡可能会加剧这个关键人生阶段经历的压力和逆境。中学生常常难以找到社会和情感支持，许多学生在学校的归属感降低，使学生偏离有前途的学术和职业轨迹。借鉴促进归属感的心理学见解，我们开展了一项简短的干预措施，旨在帮助学生重新评估在中学开始时适应环境的担忧，将其视为暂时和正常的。我们在整个地区对这种方法对中学生（n=1304）进行了一项双盲实验研究。与对照条件下的活动相比，该干预措施减少了整个地区六年级的违纪事件 34%，出勤率提高了 12%，不及格成绩减少了 18%。不同群体的受益差异在统计学上不显著，但对于历史上服务不足的少数族裔学生和男生来说，一些影响在描述上更大。中介分析表明，学生态度和行为的变化解释了长期干预对学生平均绩点影响的 80%。这些结果表明，在关键过渡时期重新评估压力体验的心理方法具有长期益处，以及支持这些方法的心理和行为机制。此外，这种简短的干预措施是一种高度具有成本效益和可扩展的方法，学校可以使用这种方法来帮助解决通常伴随着青春期和中学过渡而来的积极态度和学业成绩下降的问题。
