Academic Resilience of Students in Russian Schools: Factors Helping to Compensate for Low Family Status and Consequences of School Bullying

This paper is devoted to the study of the effect of risk accumulation on academic resilience in Russian schools, as well as to the identification of protective factors for specific risk combinations. The present study considers three combinations of risks: only low socioprofessional status of the family, low socioprofessional status of the family and humiliation by teachers, low socioprofessional status of the family and bullying by peers. The sample includes 18,466 students in grades 6-9 of both urban and rural schools in the Kaluga region, Russia. According to the results of the analysis, the low socio-professional status of the family is the strongest predictor of lower student achievement. The hypothesis of accumulation of risks was confirmed: schoolchildren exposed to a combination of two negative factors are less likely to be resilient. Humiliation by teachers has a greater negative effect on academic performance than bullying by peers. Family involvement in studies and the number of books at home turned out to be universal factors. For students exposed to two risks at once, fewer protective factors are found: a sense of belonging to the school does not increase the chances of resilience for such students, in contrast to those exposed to only one risk. Thus, more vulnerable adolescents exposed to a combination of risks find themselves in a difficult situation. Intervention programs need to be developed to make Russian schools a place where resilience can be increased.