Journal of Primary Prevention, 8(3), Spring 1988
The Transition to Junior High School: Opportunities for Primary Prevention L E W A Y N E D. G I L C H R I S T , S T E V E N P. S C H I N K E , W I L L I A M H. S N O W , R O B E R T F. S C H I L L I N G II, a n d V I R G I N I A S E N E C H A L A B S T R A C T : The move from elementary to junior high school is a significant change in the lives of young adolescents. Rates for depression, academic failure, and a variety of problem behaviors escalate after this transition. Few studies in the field of primary prevention have addressed this transition. The investigators conducted a three-part study with 6th grade students to establish an empirical base for preventive intervention aimed at reducing problems associated with entry into junior high school. The study assessed students' perceptions of the transition, their beliefs about the junior high school environment, and their readiness for it. Recommendations for preventive programming are made based on students' responses.
T h e t r a n s i t i o n from e l e m e n t a r y school to middle or j u n i o r h i g h school is a n i m p o r t a n t e v e n t for y o u n g adolescents. T h o u g h not u s u a l l y considered a m a j o r d i s r u p t i o n in children's lives, this t r a n s i t i o n encompasses g r e a t e r c h a n g e a n d more v a r i e d n e w d e m a n d s t h a n y o u t h h a v e heretofore encountered. The move to j u n i o r h i g h school h a s been identiffed as a time of major d e v e l o p m e n t a l stress ( H a m b u r g , 1974). S h a r p rises in s t u d e n t s ' a b s e n t e e i s m for illness a n d t r u a n c y , i n c r e a s e d referrals for discipline problems, a n d m a r k e d decreases in s t u d e n t s ' academic p e r f o r m a n c e in s e v e n t h g r a d e s u g g e s t t h a t a significant proportion of s t u d e n t s experience difficulty in n e g o t i a t i n g this t r a n s i t i o n (Albert & Beck, 1975; K a p l a n , M a r t i n , & Robbins, 1984; S o m m e r , Lewayne D. Gilchrist, Ph.D., is Research Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Steven P. Schinke, Ph.D., is Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY; William H. Snow, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Bethany College, Santa Cruz, CA; Robert F. Schilling, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia University; and Virginia Senechal is Research Associate, School of Social Work, University of Washington. The authors thank Liz Garrett, Josie Solseng Maxwell, and Laurie Nichols for their assistance. Funding was provided by the William T. Grant Foundation. Requests for reprints should be sent to Lewayne D. Gilchrist, School of Social Work JH-30, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
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1985). In addition to psychological distress, the move to junior high is associated with increases in problem behavior. Rates for substance abuse rise precipitously in 7th grade. Over 50% of junior high school students will experiment with cigarettes, 65% with alcohol, and 25% with marijuana (Miller et al., 1982). About a third of these students will become habitual users of these substances (Luoto, 1983). Some 24% of junior high school students will become sexually active. Most of these youth will risk pregnancy by engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1981). Rates for depression and suicide also escalate in junior high school (Ladame & Jeanneret, 1982). Preparing students for the transition to junior high school is not a traditional part of the school curriculum. School districts that do address the topic typically limit their preparation efforts to enhancing 6th graders' independent study skills in such areas as note taking, preparing written reports, and library research methods. However, a variety of clinical analyses and reports suggest that the majority of problems encountered by young people during and after the junior high school transition may stem less from changes in academic requirements and more from social stresses and adolescents' subjective perceptions and emotional reactions to the transition in school environments (Felner, Jason, Moritsugu, & Farber, 1983; Hamburg, 1974; Jones & Battjes, 1985; Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). Training in independent study skills may be at best only partial preparation for what amounts to a significant life change for adolescents. Psychosocial stress may be at the root of most problems experienced by young adolescents. Recent research links stress to adolescents' risktaking and experimentation with dangerous and problem behavior (Botvin, 1982). Stress has been defined as "the result of a discrepancy between an individual's perception of an environmental demand and his or her perceived ability to meet or cope with the demand" (Harris & Berger, 1983). This perceived discrepancy may be particularly operative for adolescents during and after the move into junior high school. Lacking experience, many young adolescents have neither the skills nor the self-confidence to easily meet predictable changes in family and school environments and in interpersonal relationships. One result of such adaptation-related stress is low self-esteem. Low self-esteem, in turn, fosters depression and lowered school performance. In addition, research studies consistently show that adolescents with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in substance abuse, precocious sexual activity, and other risk taking activities that are potentially
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harmful to themselves and to others (Glynn, Leukefeld, & Ludford, 1983; Jones & Battjes, 1985). Regardless of individual vulnerability or actual conditions in specific junior high schools, the transition to junior high functions as the symbolic entry into stereotypic American adolescence, with all the social and psychological pressures t h a t this subculture exerts (Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). At earlier and earlier ages, adolescents are required to make individual decisions about personal behavior t h a t in past decades were dictated by social norms. As one authority notes, Coming to terms with alcohol, drugs, and sex has emerged as a new developmental task that all adolescents face as part of the normal process of growing up in contemporary American society. (Jessor, 1982).
Developmental theory describes adolescents as unable to project themselves accurately into the future. This means t h a t m a n y rely on stereotypes and media representations of what the new school environment is or will be like. Reliance on such stereotypes can create psychological pressure over and above the actual pressure exerted by peers and significant adults. Most adolescents recognize their lack of skill in coping with new environments and new interpersonal demands. This knowledge adds to the sense of pressure and uncertainty attending the move into junior high school. If such a conceptualization of entry into junior high school is accurate, far more information than is currently available is needed upon which to base effective interventions to prepare elementary school students for life in secondary school. At present, clinicians have little data from adolescents' perspective to confirm and to flesh out this theoretical picture. Without such information, preventive interventions may rest more on adult notions of what adolescents need t h a n on what adolescents themselves may find helpful and meaningful. Adolescents' perceptions of junior high school should play a key role in planning responsive preventive programs. To gain an informational base upon which to build more effective problem prevention programs for junior high school age youth, the authors conducted a study of 6th graders' subjective perceptions of themselves and the nature of the transition they were about to experience. The goal of the study was exploration of students' as opposed to adults' views of the school transition and what assistance students were likely to find most useful in preparing for junior high school.
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Method Subjects A total of 606 students enrolled in 10 elementary schools in two suburban school districts in Washington state participated in the study. Students came from middle and lower socioeconomic class backgrounds. A little over 4% identified themselves as Black, 8% as Hispanic, 5% as American Indian, and 6% as Asian or Pacific Islanders. The remaining 77% were white. The sample was roughly equally divided with regard to gender (females = 51%). Students were recruited through announcements made by the investigators in 22 sixth grade classrooms in the two districts. Both parental consent and student assent were required for students' participation. Such dual consent was obtained for 94% of students who received recruitment information.
Design and Procedure The research plan involved a sequence of three substudies. Schools were randomly selected for each substudy. Participating schools were recruited selectively so that they did not differ in terms of racial and ethnic balance or socioeconomic level of students. The balance of boys versus girls in each school was also comparable. All assessment procedures took place in students' regular classrooms during the instructional day. For each substudy, students filled out self-report questionnaires. Each questionnaire took about 15 minutes to complete. Three days after administration of the questionnaires in each substudy, the investigators returned to participating classrooms to administer the questionnaires to students who had been absent the first time. Across all classrooms, 23 consenting students were absent at both questionnaire administrations, yielding the final sample of 606. Substudy 1. The goal of the first substudy was to gather data on sixth graders' subjective perceptions about their readiness for junior high school, their self-esteem, and their peer relationships. To accomplish this multiple goal, 278 sixth graders were given a questionnaire four months before the end of their school year. One 15-item scale assessed their feelings about the coming school transition. Subjects responded to four-point Likert-scaled items such as "I am very well prepared for junior high school" and "I feel very confident about my ability to handle junior high school." Subjects also filled out two standardized 25-item scales--one assessing their overall self-esteem, the other their perceptions of their peer relationships and peer support. Both scales have been used extensively in clinical work with youth and adults and both have good psychometric properties (Hudson, 1982). Substudy 2. The goal of the second substudy was to pinpoint more closely possible sources of sixth graders' worries about the transition to seventh grade. Using an open-ended response format, the investigators asked 141 previously
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uninvolved sixth graders to describe school-related situations in which they realistically expected to find themselves in seventh grade that might be difficult for them to handle. In all, subjects supplied 437 anticipated "tough" situations. Two research assistants then sorted these situation descriptions into categories based on underlying theme or type. Each research assistant sorted all the situations. Agreement between the two assistants was 93%, indicating good reliability for the sorting procedure. This sorting produced ten categories of anticipated problem situations. S u b s t u d y 3. The goal of the third substudy was ranking the level of sixth graders' concern about each of the categories of tough situations identified in Substudy 2. In this final substudy, 187 new sixth graders read the list of ten categories of anticipated problem situations and, for each category, indicated whether they personally would find situations of that kind easy or difficult to manage.
Results
Results from the first substudy showed a majority of the students reporting anxiousness about moving to junior high school. Over 22% (n - 61) of subjects reported definite anxiety about the coming transition. An additional 66% (n = 185) reported moderate anxiety. Only 17% (n_ = 48) said t h a t t hey t hought they could handle j uni or high school without too much trouble. Less t h a n a q u a r t e r (n - 67) expressed confidence in their ability to manage peer pressure in junior high school. Why the majority of these students should be so uncert ai n about the coming transition may be partially explained by students' responses to measures of self-esteem and satisfaction with peer relationships. Scores on the standardized measures of self-esteem and peer relationships indicated t h a t 56.8% (n = 158) of these sixth graders had some problems with self-esteem and t h a t 31.7% (n_ - 88) had problems or negative feelings concerning their peer relationships and peer support. Having "problems" was defined as scoring above the cut point given for each scale as separating problem free subjects from those with "clinically significant problems in the area being measured" (Hudson, 1982). Results from the second and third substudies are summarized in Table 1. The 10 categories of anticipated difficulties presented in Table 1 are those most frequently mentioned by second substudy subjects. As expected, m a n y sixth graders expressed worry about learning new school routines and anticipated difficulties with lockers and class lo-
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gistics. However, expectations of social pressure to use drugs and cigarettes was the most frequently mentioned concern about seventh grade. Over a third of the descriptive responses obtained from subjects in the second substudy fell into the categories of anticipated pressure to use cigarettes and drugs and to engage in unwanted behavior. In contrast, anticipated academic difficulties were reported by less than 12% of subjects. Concern over peer pressure was reiterated in data from subjects in the third substudy. When asked to rank their level of concern about each category of anticipated problems, nearly half of the respondents in the third substudy (49%, n = 92) reported that they expected to have real difficulty dealing with pressure toward substance use. In contrast, only 35% (n = 65) of subjects in the third substudy indicated that academic problems would be difficult to deal with.
Discussion
A series of three related studies provided data on sixth grade students' subjective perceptions and expectations regarding their transition into junior high school. The data provide at least partial support for the theoretical model showing entry into junior high school as a significant and potentially disturbing event in the lives of normal early adolescents. A substantial number of subjects expressed moderate to considerable anxiety concerning the anticipated school transition coupled with dissatisfactions with themselves (low self-esteem) and their peer relationships. The overall study design does not permit good evaluation of whether the scores obtained from this sample of students are indicative of temporary or relatively enduring characteristics. Rates of referral for psychological, social, or academic problems, however, were no greater for this sample of students than for sixth graders in preceding years at the same schools or at other schools in the same school districts. Lack of differences in referral data suggest that these subjects were not unusually disturbed and that their depressed self-esteem and peer support satisfaction scores may reflect relatively common feelings for this age group. Depression, uncomfortable peer relationships, and low self-esteem are evident in other studies of early adolescence (Elias, Gara, & Ubriaco, 1985; Schultz & Heuchert, 1983; Albert & Beck, 1975). Social support and the sympathy of friends and associates are important buffers for stress. So is self-esteem. Students' low selfesteem and low peer relationship scores indicate that these sixth grad-
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T A B L E 1. Students' A s s e s s m e n t s of Anticipated Difficult Situations
Situation D R U G S AND CIGARETTES: P r e s s u r e to use them. N E W SCHOOL: Problems r e m e m b e r i n g locker combination, getting lost, being late. OTHER SOCIAL PRESSURE: F r o m students or friends to do something unwanted. SCHOOL WORK AND GRADES: Not being able to do the work and g e t t i n g bad grades. FIGHTS: F i g h t i n g physically, being i n t i m i d a t e d , picked on. G E T T I N G IN TROUBLE: H a v i n g to go to the office. P A R E N T PROBLEMS: Disagreements, fights. F R I E N D S : S t a y i n g friends, h a n d l i n g a r g u m e n t s t h a t h u r t friendships. N E W KIDS: Meeting new kids, worry over possible t e a s i n g or nonacceptance. M A K I N G DECISIONS: Not knowing how to decide.
2nd substudy
3rd substudy
# Times Mentioned I
Confidence Rankings 2 n - 187
91 (21%)
Easy 36%
Tough 49%
72 (17%)
32
42
64(15~)
17
40
53 (12%)
39
35
38
(9%)
26
34
38
(9%)
27
27
31
(7%)
23
25
29
(7%)
33
23
15
(3%)
52
20
6
(1%)
34
19
i. Raw frequency and percent of total for situations coded into each situational category. Total number of situations coded - 437. 2. Percent of students responding. Percentages sum to less than 100 because students were not required to respond to every item. e r s m a y n o t f i n d i t e a s y to m a n a g e t h e s t r e s s e s t h e y e x p e c t a n d m a y actually encounter in junior high school. The present findings suggest that a substantial number of early adolescents are concerned about social pressure, particularly pressure to u s e c i g a r e t t e s a n d d r u g s a n d to e n g a g e i n r i s k y b e h a v i o r . O u r f i n d i n g s
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replicate those of Elias et al. (1985) which show a similarly elevated concern with substance abuse and social pressure among transitioning sixth graders. Also consistent with the Elias study are our findings of more worry about social than about academic matters.
Implications for Prevention Programming Students making the transition to junior high school present an opportunity and a challenge for primary prevention programming. The data obtained in the surveys reported here suggest the desirability of relatively broad-based preventive interventions to prepare early adolescents for this major life transition. Such interventions may be more effective when they move beyond strengthening independent study skills and employ a broad range of cognitive and behavioral skills methods to promote stuclents' social and emotional--as well as academic--adaptation to their new school environment and new social role requirements. Recently developed clinical methods suggest guidelines for planning stress prevention programs for sixth graders (Jaremko, 1983; Feindler & Fremouw, 1983; Gilchrist, 1981; Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). Programs to date have focused on teaching youth skills for increasing their social support networks and enhancing their resources for anticipating, analyzing, and coping with feelings and potential problem situations. Relevant cognitive skills for managing peer pressure include anticipating foreseeable problems, finding alternative solutions to problems, controlling anger and other negative emotions, and weighing the costs and benefits of various behavioral options (Gilchrist & Schinke, 1985). Relevant behavioral skills include self-relaxation and the ability to communicate personal opinions and preferences clearly and assertively, even in the face of peer disagreement or lack of support (Schinke & Gilchrist, 1985). Programs that teach these skills can increase adolescents' sense of personal competence and their actual ability to manage new situations and new demands, thereby reducing potential stress, depression, stress-related illnesses, and school absenteeism (cf. Cowen, 1977). Moreover, data from several recent studies show that such general skills building programs can increase students' sense of their own personal efficacy and self-esteem, their actual social competence, and their ability to avoid or refuse involvement in such problem behavior as substance use, mild delinquent acts, and risk-taking and dare-devil
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i07
behavior (Botvin & Wills, 1985; Gilchrist & Schinke, 1985). Results from the series of studies reported in this paper can be used by school personnel, counselors, and other professionals as empirically grounded guidelines for designing responsive instructional content for classroom-based, prevention oriented skills building programs. One impetus for the present research was the desire for information upon which to base recommendations for new programming in elementary school settings. Research similar to that reported here needs to be done with students already in junior high school to determine students' subjective views of the secondary school environment once they are immersed in it. Program planners need such data to represent students' perceptions, fears, and concerns clearly to assist in planning and achieving more supportive school environments. Findings from the series of surveys reported here may be useful to school personnel, social workers, guidance counselors, health educators, and others who wish to anticipate, prevent, or minimize problems related to early adolescents' transition into junior high school.
References Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1981). Teenage pregnancy: The problem that hasn't gone away. New York: Author. Albert, N., & Beck, A. T. (1975). Incidence of depression in early adolescence: A preliminary study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 25, 301-307. Botvin, G. J. (1982). Broadening the focus of smoking prevention strategies. In T. J. Coates, A. C. Peterson, & C. Perry (Eds.), Promoting adolescent health (pp. 137148). New York: Academic. Botvin, G. J., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Personal and social skills training: CognitiveLbehav ioral approaches to substance abuse prevention. In C. S. Bell & R. Battjes (Eds.), Prevention research: Deterring drug abuse among children and adolescents (NIDA Research Monograph 63, pp. 8-49). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Cowen, E. L. (1977). Baby-steps toward primary prevention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 5, 1-22. Elias, M. J., Gara, M., & Ubriaco, M. (1985). Sources of stress and support in children's transition to middle school: An empirical analysis. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 14, 112-118. Feindler, E. L., & Fremouw, W. J. (1983). Stress inoculation training for adolescent anger problems. In D. Meichenbaum & M. E. Jaremko (Eds.), Stress reduction and prevention (pp. 451-485). New York: Plenum. Felner, R. D., Jason, L. A., Moritsugu, J. N., & Farber, S. S. (Eds.). (1983). Preventive psychology: Theory, research and practice. New York: Pergamon. Gilchrist, L. D. (1981). Social competence in adolescence. In S. P. Schinke (Ed.), Behavioral methods in social welfare (pp. 61-80). New York: Aldine. Gilchrist, L. D., & Schinke, S. P. (1985). Improving smoking prevention programs. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 3, 67-78.
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Glynn, T. J., Leukefeld, C. G., & Ludford, J. P. (1983). Preventing adolescent drug abuse: Intervention strategies (NIDA Research Monograph 47). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. Hamburg, B. (1974). Early adolescence: A specific and stressful stage of the life cycle. In G. V. Coelho, B. A. Hamburg, & J. E. Adams (Eds.), Coping and adaptation (pp. 101-124). New York: Basic Books. Harris, J. H., & Berger, P. K. (1983). Antecedents of psychological stress. Journal of Human Stress, 9, 24-31, Hudson, W. (1982). Clinical measurement package: A field manual. Homewood, IL: Dorsey. Jaremko, M. E. (1983). Stress inoculation training for social anxiety, with emphasis on dating anxiety. In D. Meichenbaum & M. E. Jaremko (Eds.), Stress reduction and prevention (pp. 419-450). New York: Plenum. Jessor, R. (1982). Problem behavior and developmental transition in adolescence. Journal of School Health, 52, 295-300. Jones, C. L., & Battjes, R. (1985). Etiology of drug abuse: Implications for prevention (NIDA Research Monograph 56). Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Kaplan, H. B., Martin, S. S., & Robbins, C. (1984). Pathways to adolescent drug use: Selfderogation, peer influence, weakening of social controls, and early substance use. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 25, 270-289. Ladame, F., & Jeanneret, O. (1982). Suicide in adolescence: Some comments on epidemiology and prevention. Journal of Adolescence, 5, 355-366. Luoto, J. (1983). Reducing the health consequences of smoking. Public Health Reports, 98, 34-39. Miller, J. D., Cisin, I. H., Gardner-Keaton, H., Harrell, A. V., Wirtz, P. W., Abelson, H. I., & Fishburne, P. M. (1982). National survey on drug abuse: Main findings: 1982 (DHHS Publication No. (ADM) 83-1263). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. Schinke, S. P., & Gilchrist, L. D. (1984). Life skills counseling with adolescents. Baltimore: University Park Press. Schinke, S. P., & Gilchrist, L. D. (1985). Preventing substance abuse with children and adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 596-602. Schultz, E. W., & Heuchert, C. W. (1983). Child stress and the school experience. New York: Human Sciences Press. Sommer, B. (1985). Truancy in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 5, 145160.
The Transition to Junior High School: Opportunities for Primary Prevention L E W A Y N E D. G I L C H R I S T , S T E V E N P. S C H I N K E , W I L L I A M H. S N O W , R O B E R T F. S C H I L L I N G II, a n d V I R G I N I A S E N E C H A L A B S T R A C T : The move from elementary to junior high school is a significant change in the lives of young adolescents. Rates for depression, academic failure, and a variety of problem behaviors escalate after this transition. Few studies in the field of primary prevention have addressed this transition. The investigators conducted a three-part study with 6th grade students to establish an empirical base for preventive intervention aimed at reducing problems associated with entry into junior high school. The study assessed students' perceptions of the transition, their beliefs about the junior high school environment, and their readiness for it. Recommendations for preventive programming are made based on students' responses.
T h e t r a n s i t i o n from e l e m e n t a r y school to middle or j u n i o r h i g h school is a n i m p o r t a n t e v e n t for y o u n g adolescents. T h o u g h not u s u a l l y considered a m a j o r d i s r u p t i o n in children's lives, this t r a n s i t i o n encompasses g r e a t e r c h a n g e a n d more v a r i e d n e w d e m a n d s t h a n y o u t h h a v e heretofore encountered. The move to j u n i o r h i g h school h a s been identiffed as a time of major d e v e l o p m e n t a l stress ( H a m b u r g , 1974). S h a r p rises in s t u d e n t s ' a b s e n t e e i s m for illness a n d t r u a n c y , i n c r e a s e d referrals for discipline problems, a n d m a r k e d decreases in s t u d e n t s ' academic p e r f o r m a n c e in s e v e n t h g r a d e s u g g e s t t h a t a significant proportion of s t u d e n t s experience difficulty in n e g o t i a t i n g this t r a n s i t i o n (Albert & Beck, 1975; K a p l a n , M a r t i n , & Robbins, 1984; S o m m e r , Lewayne D. Gilchrist, Ph.D., is Research Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Steven P. Schinke, Ph.D., is Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY; William H. Snow, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Bethany College, Santa Cruz, CA; Robert F. Schilling, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia University; and Virginia Senechal is Research Associate, School of Social Work, University of Washington. The authors thank Liz Garrett, Josie Solseng Maxwell, and Laurie Nichols for their assistance. Funding was provided by the William T. Grant Foundation. Requests for reprints should be sent to Lewayne D. Gilchrist, School of Social Work JH-30, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
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1985). In addition to psychological distress, the move to junior high is associated with increases in problem behavior. Rates for substance abuse rise precipitously in 7th grade. Over 50% of junior high school students will experiment with cigarettes, 65% with alcohol, and 25% with marijuana (Miller et al., 1982). About a third of these students will become habitual users of these substances (Luoto, 1983). Some 24% of junior high school students will become sexually active. Most of these youth will risk pregnancy by engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1981). Rates for depression and suicide also escalate in junior high school (Ladame & Jeanneret, 1982). Preparing students for the transition to junior high school is not a traditional part of the school curriculum. School districts that do address the topic typically limit their preparation efforts to enhancing 6th graders' independent study skills in such areas as note taking, preparing written reports, and library research methods. However, a variety of clinical analyses and reports suggest that the majority of problems encountered by young people during and after the junior high school transition may stem less from changes in academic requirements and more from social stresses and adolescents' subjective perceptions and emotional reactions to the transition in school environments (Felner, Jason, Moritsugu, & Farber, 1983; Hamburg, 1974; Jones & Battjes, 1985; Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). Training in independent study skills may be at best only partial preparation for what amounts to a significant life change for adolescents. Psychosocial stress may be at the root of most problems experienced by young adolescents. Recent research links stress to adolescents' risktaking and experimentation with dangerous and problem behavior (Botvin, 1982). Stress has been defined as "the result of a discrepancy between an individual's perception of an environmental demand and his or her perceived ability to meet or cope with the demand" (Harris & Berger, 1983). This perceived discrepancy may be particularly operative for adolescents during and after the move into junior high school. Lacking experience, many young adolescents have neither the skills nor the self-confidence to easily meet predictable changes in family and school environments and in interpersonal relationships. One result of such adaptation-related stress is low self-esteem. Low self-esteem, in turn, fosters depression and lowered school performance. In addition, research studies consistently show that adolescents with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in substance abuse, precocious sexual activity, and other risk taking activities that are potentially
Lewayne D. Gilchrist, et al.
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harmful to themselves and to others (Glynn, Leukefeld, & Ludford, 1983; Jones & Battjes, 1985). Regardless of individual vulnerability or actual conditions in specific junior high schools, the transition to junior high functions as the symbolic entry into stereotypic American adolescence, with all the social and psychological pressures t h a t this subculture exerts (Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). At earlier and earlier ages, adolescents are required to make individual decisions about personal behavior t h a t in past decades were dictated by social norms. As one authority notes, Coming to terms with alcohol, drugs, and sex has emerged as a new developmental task that all adolescents face as part of the normal process of growing up in contemporary American society. (Jessor, 1982).
Developmental theory describes adolescents as unable to project themselves accurately into the future. This means t h a t m a n y rely on stereotypes and media representations of what the new school environment is or will be like. Reliance on such stereotypes can create psychological pressure over and above the actual pressure exerted by peers and significant adults. Most adolescents recognize their lack of skill in coping with new environments and new interpersonal demands. This knowledge adds to the sense of pressure and uncertainty attending the move into junior high school. If such a conceptualization of entry into junior high school is accurate, far more information than is currently available is needed upon which to base effective interventions to prepare elementary school students for life in secondary school. At present, clinicians have little data from adolescents' perspective to confirm and to flesh out this theoretical picture. Without such information, preventive interventions may rest more on adult notions of what adolescents need t h a n on what adolescents themselves may find helpful and meaningful. Adolescents' perceptions of junior high school should play a key role in planning responsive preventive programs. To gain an informational base upon which to build more effective problem prevention programs for junior high school age youth, the authors conducted a study of 6th graders' subjective perceptions of themselves and the nature of the transition they were about to experience. The goal of the study was exploration of students' as opposed to adults' views of the school transition and what assistance students were likely to find most useful in preparing for junior high school.
Journal of Primary Prevention
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Method Subjects A total of 606 students enrolled in 10 elementary schools in two suburban school districts in Washington state participated in the study. Students came from middle and lower socioeconomic class backgrounds. A little over 4% identified themselves as Black, 8% as Hispanic, 5% as American Indian, and 6% as Asian or Pacific Islanders. The remaining 77% were white. The sample was roughly equally divided with regard to gender (females = 51%). Students were recruited through announcements made by the investigators in 22 sixth grade classrooms in the two districts. Both parental consent and student assent were required for students' participation. Such dual consent was obtained for 94% of students who received recruitment information.
Design and Procedure The research plan involved a sequence of three substudies. Schools were randomly selected for each substudy. Participating schools were recruited selectively so that they did not differ in terms of racial and ethnic balance or socioeconomic level of students. The balance of boys versus girls in each school was also comparable. All assessment procedures took place in students' regular classrooms during the instructional day. For each substudy, students filled out self-report questionnaires. Each questionnaire took about 15 minutes to complete. Three days after administration of the questionnaires in each substudy, the investigators returned to participating classrooms to administer the questionnaires to students who had been absent the first time. Across all classrooms, 23 consenting students were absent at both questionnaire administrations, yielding the final sample of 606. Substudy 1. The goal of the first substudy was to gather data on sixth graders' subjective perceptions about their readiness for junior high school, their self-esteem, and their peer relationships. To accomplish this multiple goal, 278 sixth graders were given a questionnaire four months before the end of their school year. One 15-item scale assessed their feelings about the coming school transition. Subjects responded to four-point Likert-scaled items such as "I am very well prepared for junior high school" and "I feel very confident about my ability to handle junior high school." Subjects also filled out two standardized 25-item scales--one assessing their overall self-esteem, the other their perceptions of their peer relationships and peer support. Both scales have been used extensively in clinical work with youth and adults and both have good psychometric properties (Hudson, 1982). Substudy 2. The goal of the second substudy was to pinpoint more closely possible sources of sixth graders' worries about the transition to seventh grade. Using an open-ended response format, the investigators asked 141 previously
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uninvolved sixth graders to describe school-related situations in which they realistically expected to find themselves in seventh grade that might be difficult for them to handle. In all, subjects supplied 437 anticipated "tough" situations. Two research assistants then sorted these situation descriptions into categories based on underlying theme or type. Each research assistant sorted all the situations. Agreement between the two assistants was 93%, indicating good reliability for the sorting procedure. This sorting produced ten categories of anticipated problem situations. S u b s t u d y 3. The goal of the third substudy was ranking the level of sixth graders' concern about each of the categories of tough situations identified in Substudy 2. In this final substudy, 187 new sixth graders read the list of ten categories of anticipated problem situations and, for each category, indicated whether they personally would find situations of that kind easy or difficult to manage.
Results
Results from the first substudy showed a majority of the students reporting anxiousness about moving to junior high school. Over 22% (n - 61) of subjects reported definite anxiety about the coming transition. An additional 66% (n = 185) reported moderate anxiety. Only 17% (n_ = 48) said t h a t t hey t hought they could handle j uni or high school without too much trouble. Less t h a n a q u a r t e r (n - 67) expressed confidence in their ability to manage peer pressure in junior high school. Why the majority of these students should be so uncert ai n about the coming transition may be partially explained by students' responses to measures of self-esteem and satisfaction with peer relationships. Scores on the standardized measures of self-esteem and peer relationships indicated t h a t 56.8% (n = 158) of these sixth graders had some problems with self-esteem and t h a t 31.7% (n_ - 88) had problems or negative feelings concerning their peer relationships and peer support. Having "problems" was defined as scoring above the cut point given for each scale as separating problem free subjects from those with "clinically significant problems in the area being measured" (Hudson, 1982). Results from the second and third substudies are summarized in Table 1. The 10 categories of anticipated difficulties presented in Table 1 are those most frequently mentioned by second substudy subjects. As expected, m a n y sixth graders expressed worry about learning new school routines and anticipated difficulties with lockers and class lo-
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gistics. However, expectations of social pressure to use drugs and cigarettes was the most frequently mentioned concern about seventh grade. Over a third of the descriptive responses obtained from subjects in the second substudy fell into the categories of anticipated pressure to use cigarettes and drugs and to engage in unwanted behavior. In contrast, anticipated academic difficulties were reported by less than 12% of subjects. Concern over peer pressure was reiterated in data from subjects in the third substudy. When asked to rank their level of concern about each category of anticipated problems, nearly half of the respondents in the third substudy (49%, n = 92) reported that they expected to have real difficulty dealing with pressure toward substance use. In contrast, only 35% (n = 65) of subjects in the third substudy indicated that academic problems would be difficult to deal with.
Discussion
A series of three related studies provided data on sixth grade students' subjective perceptions and expectations regarding their transition into junior high school. The data provide at least partial support for the theoretical model showing entry into junior high school as a significant and potentially disturbing event in the lives of normal early adolescents. A substantial number of subjects expressed moderate to considerable anxiety concerning the anticipated school transition coupled with dissatisfactions with themselves (low self-esteem) and their peer relationships. The overall study design does not permit good evaluation of whether the scores obtained from this sample of students are indicative of temporary or relatively enduring characteristics. Rates of referral for psychological, social, or academic problems, however, were no greater for this sample of students than for sixth graders in preceding years at the same schools or at other schools in the same school districts. Lack of differences in referral data suggest that these subjects were not unusually disturbed and that their depressed self-esteem and peer support satisfaction scores may reflect relatively common feelings for this age group. Depression, uncomfortable peer relationships, and low self-esteem are evident in other studies of early adolescence (Elias, Gara, & Ubriaco, 1985; Schultz & Heuchert, 1983; Albert & Beck, 1975). Social support and the sympathy of friends and associates are important buffers for stress. So is self-esteem. Students' low selfesteem and low peer relationship scores indicate that these sixth grad-
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T A B L E 1. Students' A s s e s s m e n t s of Anticipated Difficult Situations
Situation D R U G S AND CIGARETTES: P r e s s u r e to use them. N E W SCHOOL: Problems r e m e m b e r i n g locker combination, getting lost, being late. OTHER SOCIAL PRESSURE: F r o m students or friends to do something unwanted. SCHOOL WORK AND GRADES: Not being able to do the work and g e t t i n g bad grades. FIGHTS: F i g h t i n g physically, being i n t i m i d a t e d , picked on. G E T T I N G IN TROUBLE: H a v i n g to go to the office. P A R E N T PROBLEMS: Disagreements, fights. F R I E N D S : S t a y i n g friends, h a n d l i n g a r g u m e n t s t h a t h u r t friendships. N E W KIDS: Meeting new kids, worry over possible t e a s i n g or nonacceptance. M A K I N G DECISIONS: Not knowing how to decide.
2nd substudy
3rd substudy
# Times Mentioned I
Confidence Rankings 2 n - 187
91 (21%)
Easy 36%
Tough 49%
72 (17%)
32
42
64(15~)
17
40
53 (12%)
39
35
38
(9%)
26
34
38
(9%)
27
27
31
(7%)
23
25
29
(7%)
33
23
15
(3%)
52
20
6
(1%)
34
19
i. Raw frequency and percent of total for situations coded into each situational category. Total number of situations coded - 437. 2. Percent of students responding. Percentages sum to less than 100 because students were not required to respond to every item. e r s m a y n o t f i n d i t e a s y to m a n a g e t h e s t r e s s e s t h e y e x p e c t a n d m a y actually encounter in junior high school. The present findings suggest that a substantial number of early adolescents are concerned about social pressure, particularly pressure to u s e c i g a r e t t e s a n d d r u g s a n d to e n g a g e i n r i s k y b e h a v i o r . O u r f i n d i n g s
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replicate those of Elias et al. (1985) which show a similarly elevated concern with substance abuse and social pressure among transitioning sixth graders. Also consistent with the Elias study are our findings of more worry about social than about academic matters.
Implications for Prevention Programming Students making the transition to junior high school present an opportunity and a challenge for primary prevention programming. The data obtained in the surveys reported here suggest the desirability of relatively broad-based preventive interventions to prepare early adolescents for this major life transition. Such interventions may be more effective when they move beyond strengthening independent study skills and employ a broad range of cognitive and behavioral skills methods to promote stuclents' social and emotional--as well as academic--adaptation to their new school environment and new social role requirements. Recently developed clinical methods suggest guidelines for planning stress prevention programs for sixth graders (Jaremko, 1983; Feindler & Fremouw, 1983; Gilchrist, 1981; Schinke & Gilchrist, 1984). Programs to date have focused on teaching youth skills for increasing their social support networks and enhancing their resources for anticipating, analyzing, and coping with feelings and potential problem situations. Relevant cognitive skills for managing peer pressure include anticipating foreseeable problems, finding alternative solutions to problems, controlling anger and other negative emotions, and weighing the costs and benefits of various behavioral options (Gilchrist & Schinke, 1985). Relevant behavioral skills include self-relaxation and the ability to communicate personal opinions and preferences clearly and assertively, even in the face of peer disagreement or lack of support (Schinke & Gilchrist, 1985). Programs that teach these skills can increase adolescents' sense of personal competence and their actual ability to manage new situations and new demands, thereby reducing potential stress, depression, stress-related illnesses, and school absenteeism (cf. Cowen, 1977). Moreover, data from several recent studies show that such general skills building programs can increase students' sense of their own personal efficacy and self-esteem, their actual social competence, and their ability to avoid or refuse involvement in such problem behavior as substance use, mild delinquent acts, and risk-taking and dare-devil
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behavior (Botvin & Wills, 1985; Gilchrist & Schinke, 1985). Results from the series of studies reported in this paper can be used by school personnel, counselors, and other professionals as empirically grounded guidelines for designing responsive instructional content for classroom-based, prevention oriented skills building programs. One impetus for the present research was the desire for information upon which to base recommendations for new programming in elementary school settings. Research similar to that reported here needs to be done with students already in junior high school to determine students' subjective views of the secondary school environment once they are immersed in it. Program planners need such data to represent students' perceptions, fears, and concerns clearly to assist in planning and achieving more supportive school environments. Findings from the series of surveys reported here may be useful to school personnel, social workers, guidance counselors, health educators, and others who wish to anticipate, prevent, or minimize problems related to early adolescents' transition into junior high school.
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