Relationship between student personality style, perception of family environment, and classroom functioning of mainland Puerto Rican children

This study investigated the relationship between the personality style and the perception of the family environment with the academic performance and classroom behavioral functioning in a sample of Puerto Rican children attending elementary public schools in the United States.;The present study was designed after those investigations that found significant associations between individual characteristics and the family environment with the school functioning (academic performance and classroom behavior) in other population samples.;Participants in the present study were 53 Puerto Rican children (23 males, 30 females) enrolled in fourth to sixth grades in two Hartford, Connecticut Public Schools with ages ranging from 9 years to 12 years. The Student Styles Questionnaire (SSQ), the Children's Version of the Family Environment Scale (CV/FES), and Achenbach's Teacher Report Form (TRF) were utilized as measures of personality, perception of the family environment, and classroom behavior, respectively. Teacher-assigned grades were used to measure academic achievement.;The results revealed that regarding academic achievement, for this inner city Puerto Rican sample, only perception of family environment was a significant correlate. On the other hand, with regards to classroom behavioral problems, both personality style and perception of the family environment were significant correlates.;Results are compared with previous findings and are also discussed in light of their practical implications. The data suggest the importance of assessing both the personality and the family environment when dealing with classroom behavioral problems, and of closely observing family environment when assessing possible causes of academic achievement. Secondary analyses are also discussed.