The Development of School Satisfaction in Chinese Early Adolescents: The Contributions of Peer Liking and Academic Performance

Research in Western countries has shown a general declining trend of school satisfaction over time among adolescents, yet it remains unclear how social and school factors predict the developmental pattern. Moreover, relative to their Western counterparts, adolescents in China tend to report lower levels of school satisfaction, but little is known about how it develops and the predictors of the development. To fill the gaps, this four-wave longitudinal study explored the developmental patterns of school satisfaction and the contributions of peer liking and academic performance. Six hundred and eighty-nine Chinese adolescents (M_age = 11.39, SD_age = 0.53 at Time 1; 53.7% girls) participated in this study from Grade 6 to Grade 9 in 2017 to 2020. School satisfaction was measured each academic year using self-reports. Peer liking was assessed by classroom-based sociometric nominations, and information on academic performance was collected through school records in Grade 6. The conditional growth curve model results showed that peer liking and academic performance positively predicted the intercept of school satisfaction. School satisfaction decreased over time among students with low initial academic achievement, but increased in an exponential manner among students with high initial academic achievement. The results indicated that peer relationships and academic performance might play a role in affecting the level and the development of school satisfaction in the Chinese context.

An investigation into the lower peer liking of anxious than nonanxious children

Peer dislike of anxious behaviour was investigated in 7-12 year olds. Child actors delivered an identical verbal presentation: once in an anxious manner and once confidently. The videos were rated for liking and seven potential mediators by three groups of children: 32 anxiety-disordered peers with social phobia; 16 anxiety-disordered peers without social phobia; and 48 nonclinical peers. A mediation model with moderation effects was tested within a within-subjects framework. "Anxious" actors were liked significantly less than "confident" actors. This effect differed by group rater, in that relative dislike of the anxious actor was significantly greater for the nonclinical than socially phobic raters. Physical attractiveness and friend acceptance mediated the effect for all group raters. Other identified mediators differed depending upon the group rater. The findings direct future efforts to help anxiety-disordered children circumvent an increased risk of negative peer relations, and testify to consideration of the rater in sociometric studies.