Social Competencies and Expectations Regarding the Impending Transition to Secondary School

Changing from elementary to secondary school is a life event that every child has to pass. Previous research has shown that some children feel more threatened by the transition than others. In the present study children’s expectations concerning the impending transition to secondary school were analyzed and it was investigated how individual levels of social competencies, aggressive behavior, peer-acceptance and victimization experiences are related to the expectations regarding the transition to secondary school. The results demonstrated that empathy and aggression are strongly related to the perception of the impending transition as challenge whereas victimization and peer-acceptance were related to the perception of the transition as threat. Furthermore, with the help of a cluster analysis, four groups of children showing different patterns of expectations were identified. The findings give valuable information about children’s perceptions of the impending school transition. It is discussed how teachers could support children to cope better with transition processes.