The Impact of Close Friends’ Academic Orientation and Deviancy on Academic Achievement, Engagement, and Competence Across the Middle School Transition

Transition to middle school is a turbulent time of development in which friends have growing impact on adolescents’ academic adjustment. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the unique and joint contributions of academically oriented and deviant close friends on reading and math achievement, competence beliefs in reading and math, and engagement during the transition into middle school. The sample was 652 (53.4 percent male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk students. Within-wave associations between peer affiliation and outcome variables were found in the expected directions. Outcome variables were highly stable. The model yielded adequate fit of the data. Contrary to expectations, neither peer affiliation variable (academically-oriented friends or deviant friends) contributed to year 6 outcomes, controlling for year 5 outcomes, nor did the two affiliation variables interact in predicting changes in outcomes. Affiliation with close friends was moderately stable over time and affiliation with learning oriented friends was positively associated with the academic outcomes and affiliation with deviant friends was negatively associated with the academic outcomes. Close friendships may change so rapidly that a relationship between close friend affiliation at any one point in time is not predictive of changes in one’s engagement, competence beliefs, or achievement. Future research that examines peer relationships and academic competencies across a longer period of time and more frequently may allow for a clearer understanding of relationships among peer affiliation and academic outcomes