PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-2963

RO
Title: Transition to Middle School: A Longitudinal Approach Investigating Risk and Protective Factors
This work is supported by a grant of the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation: PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-2963
Project type: PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-2963, 2021-2023

 

Abstract: The present proposal aims to increase the understanding of the implications of school transition on three important developmental areas: emotion, motivation and academic achievement. Further, the proposal addresses transactional dynamics of school and social factors and students’ functioning on these domains during the critical transition to middle school. Furthermore, school transition is a proper period for prevention and implementation of interventions related to the reduction of internalizing problems and increasing the emotional well-being, as well as improvements in motivation and achievement. Thus, the principal objectives are to:

1) to examine longitudinal paths between internalizing symptoms, self-motivation beliefs (i.e., beliefs about competence and achievement goals) and academic achievement from elementary school (Grade 4) into the transition to middle school (Grade 5 and Grade 6) on a large sample of Romanian students;
2) to explore whether the changes in the relationships with parents and peers are longitudinally linked to changes in early adolescents’ functioning on emotional and academic domain;
3) to implement multi-target positive psychology interventions (with or without parents) to increase the students’ subjective well-being and to reduce the internalizing problems. Finally, the project will deliver a guide of best practices regarding the risk and protective factors for students’ educational transition.

 

Team members:

 

Achieved results

    • Published articles
      1. Zancu, A. S., & Diaconu-Gherasim, L. R. (2024). Weight stigma and mental health outcomes in early-adolescents. the mediating role of internalized weight bias and body esteem, Appetite, 107276, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107276
      2. Țepordei, A. M., Zancu, A. S., Diaconu‐Gherasim, L. R. & Brumariu, L. E. (2024). Still worried? Pre-transition parental control and academic competence as antecedents of middle school students’ post-transition worries, Journal of Research on Adolescence, https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12917
      3. Alexandra Maftei & Loredana R. Diaconu-Gherasim (2023) The road to addiction (might be) paved with good intentions: Motives for social media use and psychological distress among early adolescents, Journal of Children and Media, 17:4, 538-558, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2023.2255304
      4. Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Nicuță, E.G., Crumpei-Tanasă, I. et al. Perception of Friendship Quality and Mental Health: School Goal Structures as Moderators. School Mental Health 15, 1003–1016 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-023-09601-1
      5. Țepordei, A. M., Zancu, A. S., Diaconu-Gherasim, L. R., Crumpei-Tanasă, I., Măirean, C., Sălăvăstru, D., & Labăr, A. V. (2023). Children’s peer relationships, well-being, and academic achievement: the mediating role of academic competence. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1174127
      6. Loredana R. Diaconu-Gherasim, Laura E. Brumariu & Chana M. Etengoff (2023) Romanian early adolescents’ perceptions of parental migration and the associated relational impact: a qualitative analysis, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2023.2203845
      7. Măirean, C., Zancu, A. S., & Diaconu‐Gherasim, L. R. (2022). Children’s anxiety, academic self‐efficacy, and intergenerational transmission of worries regarding the transition to middle school. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 1638-1650. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12530
    • Articles under review in journals indexed in Web of Science Core Collection
      1. Zancu, A., Nair, T., Brumariu, L.E. & Diaconu-Gherasim, R. L. Parental dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control, and children’s self-concept and depressive symptoms in middle childhood, The Journal of Early Adolescence.(under review)
      2. Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Maftei, A., Zancu, A., Măirean, C., Brumariu., L., Țepordei A.-M., Crumpei-Tănasă, I., & Nicuță, G., Children’s perceived parental control and academic achievement during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Psychology of Education (sent back for review)
      3. Diaconu-Gherasim, L., Elliot, A., Zancu, A., Măirean, C., Brumariu L, & Crumpei-Tănasă, I. A meta-analysis of the relation between achievement goals and internalizing symptoms, Educational Psychology Review (under review)
    • Oral presentations at international and national conferences
      1. Zancu, A.S., Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., “Can weight bias internalization explain the relation between perceived weight teasing and children’s loneliness?” ICAPES 2023 10th International Conference on Applied Psychology and Educational Sciences, Iași, România, 20-21 October 2023
      2. Țepordei, A.M., Zancu, A.S., Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Crumpei-Tanasă, I., Măirean, C., Sălăvăstru, D., & Labăr, A.V. The Interplay between Primary School Students’ Peer Relations, Academic Self-Concept, Academic Outcomes and Life Satisfaction. The 10th International Conference on Applied Psychology and Educational Sciences (ICAPES), October 2023, Iași, Romania; https://www.psih.uaic.ro/even/icapes/agenda.php
      3. Diaconu-Gherasim, L., & Brumariu, L. Adolescents’ perceptions of parental migration and the associated relational impact (invited speaker), INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE „Stay-Behind Children of Eastern Europe: Challenges and Solutions”, 28-29 November 2023, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
      4. Țepordei, A.M., Zancu, A.S., & Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., & Brumariu, L.E. Environmental Factors as Potential Antecedents of Middle School Students’ Post-Transition Worries. The 10th International Conference on Applied Psychology and Educational Sciences (ICAPES), October 2023, Iași, Romania; https://www.psih.uaic.ro/even/icapes/agenda.php
      5. Maftei A. & Diaconu-Gherasim, L R, Motives for social media use and psychological distress among early adolescents, European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP), 28 August – 1 September, 2023, Turku, Finland
      6. Țepordei, A.M., Zancu, A.S., & Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R. Academic Competence as a Mediator of the Longitudinal Relation between Parental Psychological Control and Children’ s Worries after Transition to Middle School. The European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP), August-September 2023, Turku, Finlanda; https://sites.utu.fi/ecdp2023/programme/
      7. Măirean, C., Țucă, I., Zancu, A., Diaconu-Gherasim, L., & Brumariu, L. The longitudinal relation between anxiety symptoms and academic achievement. The explanatory role of scholastic competence. European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP), 28 August – 1 September, 2023, Turku, Finland
      8. Zancu, A.S. & Diaconu-Gherasim, L R, Appearance pressures, weight bias and social functioning in early adolescents. A moderated mediation model, European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP), 28 August – 1 September, 2023, Turku, Finland
      9. Diaconu-Gherasim, L R, Zancu, A.S., Travis, N & Brumariu L.E. Parental dependency and achievement-oriented control, self-concept and depressive symptoms. A longitudinal investigation in middle childhood, symposium: Parental psychological control and its implications for the psychosocial functioning of children, adolescents, and young adults, European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP), 28 August – 1 September, 2023, Turku, Finland
      10. Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Maftei, A., Zancu, A., Măirean, C., Brumariu., L., Crumpei-Tănasă, I., Țepordei A.-M., & Nicuță, G., Parental psychological control and children’s academic achievement during the pandemic: The moderating role of perceived COVID-19 threat, 18th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence, 23-28 August 2022, Dublin, Ireland
      11. Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Nicuță, G. & Crumpei-Tănasă, I. Friendship quality and children’ well-being: Are classroom goal structures moderators? 10th European Conference on Positive Psychology, July 2022, Reykjavik, Iceland
      12. Mairean, C., Zancu A., & Diaconu-Gherasim, LR., Children’s anxiety, academic self-efficacy, and intergenerational transmission of worries regarding the transition to middle school, The 36th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology, 23-27 August 2022, Bratislava, Slovacia.