Socially Anxious Science Achievers: The Roles of Peer Social Support and Social Engagement in the Relation Between Adolescents’ Social Anxiety and Science Achievement

Socially anxious youth are at an increased risk for academic underachievement, withdrawal from school, and negative peer relationships. Given that learning tasks in science classes rely heavily on peer collaboration and social skills, this study aimed to investigate the link between high-school adol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 2020-05, Vol.49 (5), p.1005-1016
Main Authors: Scanlon, Christina L., Del Toro, Juan, Wang, Ming-Te
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Adolescents
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Black white relations
Child and School Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Educational Practices
Empirical Research
Health Psychology
History of Psychology
Interpersonal Competence
Law and Psychology
Learning
Multiracial people
Peer Relationship
Peer relationships
Peers
Psychology
Science
Science Achievement
Social anxiety
Social support
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Teenagers
Underachievement
Withdrawal (Education)
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Summary:Socially anxious youth are at an increased risk for academic underachievement, withdrawal from school, and negative peer relationships. Given that learning tasks in science classes rely heavily on peer collaboration and social skills, this study aimed to investigate the link between high-school adolescents’ social anxiety and their science achievement while also determining whether and how peer social support and social engagement mediated the relation. Data was collected from 805 high-school students (48.7% female; 30.9% in 9th, 24.0% in 10th, 25.3% in 11th, 19.8% in 12th grade; 51.2% White, 29.8% Black, 11.4% Biracial, 7.6% Other). The results showed that socially anxious adolescents were more likely to report lower social engagement, which in turn predicted lower science performance. In addition, adolescents with social anxiety tended to experience less peer social support, which led to lower social engagement and subsequent lower science performance. These findings have important implications for guiding teaching practice and school-based interventions that support socially anxious adolescents in learning tasks.
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1007/s10964-020-01224-y