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Examination of Peer Rejection and Depressive Symptoms as Mediators of the Link between Rule-Breaking Behavior and Poor Academic Performance

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Abstract

The current study further evaluated the association between rule-breaking behavior and academic performance by examining peer rejection and depressive symptoms as potential mediators of this association. Study hypotheses were examined using a sample of 147 school-age children (54.4% male) ranging from five to 13 years of age (M = 8.22, SD = 1.99). A meditational path model was estimated, and findings suggested that peer rejection mediated the association between rule-breaking behavior and academic performance two months later when also considering the stability of academic performance. That is, high levels of rule-breaking behavior were associated with high levels of peer rejection, which in turn was associated with poor academic performance. Depressive symptoms were not indicated as a mediator of this association. Findings and their implications are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Note that reverse associations were examined, whereby academic performance was examined as a predictor of rule-breaking behavior two months later; however, academic performance was not a significant predictor of subsequent rule-breaking behavior (p > .40). Findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that rule-breaking behavior is eliciting poor academic performance, not vice versa, in elementary school-aged children (e.g., Bardone et al. 1996; Hawkins et al. 2003; Masten et al. 1995).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Paula J. Fite & Sonia Schwartz

  2. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Amber R. Wimsatt, Michael L. Vitulano & Jamie L. Rathert

  3. Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, 2012 Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Paula J. Fite

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  1. Paula J. Fite
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  2. Amber R. Wimsatt
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Correspondence to Paula J. Fite.

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Fite, P.J., Wimsatt, A.R., Vitulano, M.L. et al. Examination of Peer Rejection and Depressive Symptoms as Mediators of the Link between Rule-Breaking Behavior and Poor Academic Performance. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 34, 164–171 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-011-9269-y

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