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Prosocial Behavior and School Performance in the Transition to Adolescence: A Multicultural Study
Flavia Cirimele1, Concetta Pastorelli2, Marc H Bornstein3,4,5
1Department of Culture and Society, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
The present study explored the bidirectional longitudinal associations between prosocial behavior and school performance during adolescence in six countries (Colombia, Italy, Jordan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States). A total sample of 884 adolescents (T1: M age = 10.34 years, SD = 0.69) reported their prosocial behavior, while adolescents' mothers (N = 871) and fathers (N = 773) reported their children's school performance over three-time points covering the transition to adolescence (from ages 10 to 16). A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model, controlling for countries' Human Development Index, child gender, and family SES, showed that adolescents with high levels of prosocial behavior also have high school performance on a stable basis over time. Moreover, being more prosocial than usual is positively associated with higher-than-expected school performance at each time point. The implications of the interplay between prosocial behavior and school performance during the transition to adolescence in multicultural contexts are discussed.
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