Emotional support and expectations from parents, teachers, and peers predict adolescent competence at school / Kathryn R. Wentzel, Shannon Russell, Sandra Baker

We examined perceived emotional support and expectations from parents, teachers, and classmates in relation to Mexican American adolescents' (n = 398) social behavior and academic functioning. Results of regression analyses indicated that direct associations between emotional support and expectations differ as a function of source and domain; teacher and parent variables were significant predictors of academic outcomes, and peer variables were significant predictors of social behavior. Examination of moderation effects indicated that expectations of adults and peers are related to outcomes more strongly as a function of perceived emotional support. However, moderating effects for academic outcomes were found for higher levels of adult emotional support, whereas effects for behavioral outcomes were found for lower levels of peer emotional support. The differential contribution of adult and peer emotional support to school outcomes is discussed.

Psychology.