An examination of the self-system model of motivational development (SSMMD) from middle childhood through middle adolescence in the school context

Abstract

Grounded in the Self-System Model of Motivational Development (SSMMD), this study used data on 1,010 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network (NICHD SECCYD) to investigate the links of key interpersonal elements in school setting during middle childhood (i.e., relationship quality and interactions with teachers and peers at Age 9) with child outcomes in academic, social and behavioral domains during middle adolescence (at Age 15). Particularly, informed by the developmental cascade of “Context-Self-System Process-Action-Outcome” (CSAO) in SSMMD, we tested children’s perceived competence in school and relatedness to school (i.e., Self-System Processes at Age 11), as well as their subsequent school engagement (i.e., Action at Age 12) during early adolescence as potential explanatory mechanisms for such links. Results supported the proposed cascade. The quality of relationships with teachers and peers, negative interactions with peers uniquely predicted students’ subsequent development across multiple domains through shaping their perceived competence in school and relatedness to school as well as their following school engagement. This is the first study that provides a more complete examination of the CSAO cascading pathway in SSMMD. The findings supported the widely-documented key roles of teachers and peers in the school context during middle childhood in shaping students’ long-term adaptations. Accordingly, clinical and educational practice may target global relationships and specific interactions with peers and teachers to promote students’ adaptations in the long run as they serve as important driving forces for students’ later development of self-system processes related to school.