Effects of Psychophysiological Reactivity to a School-Related Stressor and Temperament on Early Adolescents’ Academic Performance

Abstract

This study investigated early adolescents’ psychophysiological response to a school-related stressor (SRS) as indexed by heart rate variability and examined the unique and interactive effects of heart rate variability and temperament on academic achievement. A total of 91 seventh graders watched an SRS video-clip while their heart rate variability was registered. Temperament and grades were also assessed. Heart rate variability decreased from baseline while watching the video-clip, indicating the activation of a stress response, and returned to basal level when recovering. Regression analyses revealed that among youth with an inhibited temperament, higher heart rate variability in the poststressor phase was related to better performance, whereas socially outgoing students performed well regardless of their recovery rate. These are among the first data to report on the link between early adolescents’ parasympathetic self-regulatory activity in response to an SRS, temperamental profiles, and academic functioning. Implications for theory and educational practice are discussed.

Temperament and Academic Achievement in Children: A Meta-Analysis

“…Temperament operates on a full scale at the points of transition from one educational level to another. This has been the focus of many studies, such as those on the transition from preschool to primary school [ 45 , 46 ], primary to elementary school [ 34 , 47 ], and elementary to high school [ 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Several studies highlighted that adaptation to a new educational level is associated with the fall of academic grades [ 51 , 52 ].…”

Temperamental Sensitivities Differentially Linked With Interest, Strain, and Effort Appraisals

“…Furthermore, the differences may in some part be traced back to the age and stage of the participating students, in that academic achievement may be socially more highly valued and hence more important among upper-secondary students than in comprehensive school. It may also be that older, on the whole perhaps more academically oriented students have developed effective coping or self-regulation methods that compensate for punishment sensitivity (see, Evans et al, 2018 ; Scrimin et al, 2018 ). Examining these possibilities requires both longitudinal research and designs in which situational influences, and their interplay with temperamental sensitivities, are taken into account.…”

“…It may be that at this upper-secondary-school stage of students’ educational paths, situations within the learning context are no longer new to them, and punishment sensitivity might hence be less likely to become activated. Furthermore, some students may have learned productive coping strategies ( Evans et al, 2018 ) or developed effective self-regulation ( Scrimin et al, 2018 ), which have been found to compensate for punishment sensitivity. We note also that punishment sensitivity correlated positively with course grade in Swedish, and negatively with later course effort in English and mathematics.…”

Temperamental Sensitivities Differentially Linked with Interest, Strain, and Effort Appraisals

“…It may be that at this upper-secondary-school stage of students' educational paths, situations within the learning context are no longer new to them, and punishment sensitivity might hence be less likely to become activated. Furthermore, some students may have learned productive coping strategies (Evans, Martin, & Ivcevic, 2018) or developed effective selfregulation (Scrimin, Moscardino, Finos, & Mason, 2018), which have been found to compensate for punishment sensitivity. We note also that punishment sensitivity correlated positively with course grade in Swedish, and negatively with later course effort in English and mathematics.…”