Predictors Of Global Self-Worth And Academic Performance Among Regular Education, Learning Disabled, And Continuation High School Students

Adolescence, Fall, 1998 by Dudley J. Wiest, Eugene H. Wong, Dennis A. Kreil

Academic Coping Inventory. This scale assesses the ability of a student to cope positively with school demands (Tero & Connell, 1984). Items for the four subscales (positive coping, denial, blame projection, and anxiety) are rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Reliability was sufficient for all subscales, with internal consistency coefficients of .73, .64, .65, and .75 (Cronbach's alpha) for the positive coping, projection, denial, and anxiety subscales, respectively.

Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control (MMCPC). The MMCPC (Connell, 1985) is a domain-specific measure of children's perceived control with respect to success and failure. In each domain, three sources of control are identified: internal, powerful others, and unknown. The cognitive, social, and general subscales were employed in this study. Respondents were asked to rate, on 4-point scales, the applicability of each statement to themselves. Adequate reliability has been reported for each subscale.

Perceived Competence Scale for Children. The Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982) is a domain-specific measure of competence. Three subscales were employed in this project: academic, social, and general. The academic and social subscales are indices of competence in the classroom and with peers, respectively. The general subscale is a measure of global self-worth. The scale was modified slightly for the present research; items were arranged in Likert-scale fashion with a description of how the student potentially feels. High scores indicate high perceived competence and high self-worth.

Origin Climate Questionnaire. This scale assesses a student's perceptions of the teacher and classroom environment (deCharms, 1976). Two dimensions are measured: teacher autonomy support and teacher warmth. Items are rated on a 4-point scale, with high scores indicating high autonomy support and teacher warmth. Reported reliabilities are adequate.

Children's Perceptions of Parents. This scale assesses children's perceptions of autonomy support from parents and parent involvement (Grolnick, Ryan, & Deci, 1991). Respondents are asked to rate items on a 4-point scale. The scale has been found to have good reliability.

My Friends. This scale was specifically designed for the present study to address a component of intrinsic motivation that is missing from the literature. While autonomy has been examined in the home, school, and intrapersonal contexts (self-regulation and coping skills), little is known about the influence of friends on autonomy and competence. Thus, a set of questions was developed to measure autonomy support from peers, specifically friends, with items rated on a 4-point scale. Validity and reliability analyses were conducted and have been reported in detail elsewhere (see Wiest, 1992).

RESULTS

Table 1 presents demographic information. It is important to note that although the students were not randomly sampled, as a group they were representative of the district's population. Over half lived in intact families (i.e., homes where both biological parents were present). However, a notable number of students lived in single-parent or blended-family households.