Anxiety

A new study indicates that first-grade academic performance can significantly effect self-perception in the sixth grade and lead to depressive symptoms in the seventh grade.

Keith Herman, an associate professor of education, school, and counseling psychology, and his colleagues at the University of Missouri conducted the study. They examined the behaviors of 474 girls and boys in the first grade and later re-examined their behaviors in the sixth and seventh grade.

They discovered that students with poor academic performance in the first grade were more likely to have negative self-perceptions in the sixth grade and suffer from depressive symptoms in the seventh grade. Additionally, they discovered that this effect was significantly stronger in girls.

Herman asserted, “Often children with poor academic skills believe they have less influence on major outcomes in their life. Poor academic skills can influence how children view themselves as students and as social beings.”

Herman suggests that given these findings, parents and teachers should praise students for their good performance in non-core academic subjects, music, athletics, interpersonal skills, or other activities.

Praise is important for children to help them feel good about themselves and their abilities both in the short-term and the long-term.

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Psych Central: Early Praise May Prevent Teen Depression

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