Predictors of Academic Achievement and School Attachment among Hispanic Adolescents

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that predict academic achievement and school attachment among Hispanic seventh-and eighth-grade adolescents and to determine whether the associations between these factors are similar for Hispanic and white adolescents. The sample consisted of 170 adolescents. Results for Hispanic adolescents indicate that association with pro-academic peers and more supportive parent relationships are associated with higher grade point average (GPA) and greater attachment to school. Attachment to school also predicts adolescent GPA, with greater attachment associated with higher GPA. Analyses of ethnic differences reveal that similar associations are found for Hispanic and white adolescents. Furthermore, ethnicity does not moderate the associations that family background, linguistic acculturation, school factors, and peer characteristics have with adolescent achievement and attachment to school. Results from this study add to the increasing body of research that suggests that predictors of positive adjustment in adolescence may be similar for all adolescents, regardless of ethnicity.