Rural African-American children's school adjustment: The roles of perceived caregiver and peer acceptance and caregiver monitoring

This investigation examined how children's perceptions of caregiver and peer acceptance relate to school adjustment for a sample of low-income, rural African American 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders (N = 169). Children reported on their perceptions of caregiver and peer acceptance and caregiver monitoring. School adjustment was measured by teacher reports of school engagement, children's Reading/English grades, social and physical aggression and prosocial behavior and children's reports of their own levels of school engagement and loneliness. Analyses revealed that on most indices, girls' school adjustment was better than that of boys'. Whereas most measures of boys' success in school were significantly related to caregiver monitoring, girls' success was more closely related to their perceptions of rejection from their caregiver and peer groups. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.