In the Context of Adult Support: The Influence of Peer Support on the Psychological Well-Being of Middle-School Students

Abstract

This study examines the influence of adult and peer support on the psychological well-being of middle-school students. Using data representing 13,843 middle-school students from seven U.S. states, which were collected with the School Success Profile, hierarchical regression analysis is used to examine a hypothesis in 2 models of relationships: continuity/cognitive and compensatory/competition. Results support the continuity/cognitive model, and indicate peer support is an important contributor to middle-school students' psychological well-being at various levels of adult support. When adult support is low, high levels of peer support do not improve psychological well-being. Implications for research and practice are discussed.Keywords Psychological well-being Á Peer support Á Adult support Á Middle-school students Middle-school marks a time of transition in the lives of American adolescents. During this transitional time, students are not only struggling with changes in their academic environment, but also with transformations in their bodies, minds, emotions, and relationships. The support that students receive from adults and peers during these years can affect not only how they cope with these changes, but can also influence their psychological well-being (Flook et al.

Relationship provisions, self-efficacy and youth well-being in military families

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Adolescent bully-victims: Social health and the transition to secondary school

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Perceived Neighborhood Social Resources as Determinants of Prosocial Behavior in Early Adolescence

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