5 research outputs found
The Influence of Family Support According to Gender in the Portuguese Language Course Achievement
Several factors like pupils’ characteristics, school conditions and family context have been pointed out in the literature as being linked to academic achievement. Regarding the latter, family socio-economic status and parental support have been identified as determining variables on success at school. The current study analyses the influence of family support on the achievement of school children in their native language [Portuguese language course (PLC)]. Participants were 885 students attending PLC on basic and secondary schools (6th and 9th school grades) (ISCED 1); 418 boys and 467 girls, ranged between 10 and 18 years of age (M = 12.99). School achievement was assessed using year-end classifications in PLC. Family support was assessed using the Family Support-Context Variables Questionnaire. A regression analysis showed that students’ perception about instrumental and affective family support in school life was positively related to their Portuguese grades. However, different predictive values were revealed according to gender. Girls’ Portuguese languge couse classification seemed to depend on affective variables like their perception of affective parental support and affective attitudes toward the PLC, while boys’ results seemed to be influenced by instrumental variables, such as the perception of instrumental support from parents and boys’ attitudes toward the utility of learning Portuguese language. These results supported those of other studies, showing the need to take gender differences into account in educational interventions, especially during early adolescence. In conclusion, the study shows an influence of parental support on PLC achievement. Such influence differs according to gender, with girls being more sensitive to the affective dimension of parental support and boys to the instrumental one
School achievement and failure in Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries
School failure is an important social problem in the present world (Organization for Economic
Co-operation Development, 2010). This seems to be especially true for Spanish and Portuguese
speaking countries in Europe (Eurydice, 2011) and Latin America (Román, 2013). Consequently,
school achievement and failure is an increasingly important topic of discussion and research.
Psychology can make an important contribution to understanding these issues, emphasizing the
individual perspective, i.e., defining academic and pre-academic skills for a good achievement and
developing sound evaluation and intervention techniques for children with school failure problems.
The following papers revise the latest developments in the field. The research covered tried to
answer the most urgent questions on the topic: (1) Which variables are responsible for school
achievement and failure? (2) Which intervention techniques can be used to help children with
school failure problems?
All papers focused on children attending primary or secondary school, except one that dealt
with prevention strategies for children at risk before schooling. Most sought correlations between
determining variables and some measures of school achievement. Two studies applied intervention
strategies designed to improve the academic performance of children with problems at school and
systematically evaluated their results
Psychology in Education and Health. Proceedings of the III Leipzig-Evora Scientific Meeting in Psychology
The phenomena of achievement motivation is one of the most important among studied
by psychology as far as its study approaches of scientists to the answer to the question
about motivation forces of human behavior and activity. Motivation for achievement
consists of two main components - adaptive and transcendent vectors. Based on the
empirical studies carried out, the authors obtained results that became the basis for the
assumption that the motivation of achievement among people who are conditionally
called healthy is fundamentally different from the motivation of achievement among
people with mental pathology.
There is a non-linear link between mental health, mental disorders and adaptation,
transcendence. Mental health requires a balance of these two components of the
motivational sphere
Multiple Approaches to the Study and Intervention in Stress.
Researchers of the Department of Psychology of the University of Leipzig look back on
30 years of research on stress and on about 25 years of trauma-research. The development
of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for stress management and trauma therapy will
be reported in brief in this article. The article is focusing on the development of
psychological assessment tools for stress and trauma