Psychosocial Correlates and Consequences of Adolescents' Self-Generated Academic Goals and Appraisals.

The current study examined whether characteristics of adolescents (i.e., externalizing problems) and their environments (i.e., social support, adverse childhood experiences) relate to academic goal setting, appraisals, and outcomes. Adolescents (n = 99; 87% Black/African American) 13-16 years old completed baseline interviews, and 80% also completed follow-up interviews. Adolescents with more externalizing problems set fewer academic goals, and youth with social networks characterized by greater support (and less strain) appraised their academic goals as more supported and achievable. Adolescents' appraisals of their academic goals, but not how many academic goals they had, predicted grades at follow-up. Increasing social support (and reducing social strain) may foster adolescents' positive appraisals of their academic goals, which may promote academic achievement.