Identity Representations in Patterns of School Achievement and Well-Being Among Early Adolescent Girls

This study examines relations between early adolescent girls' well-being, achievement, and emerging identities. Variable-centered results showed that girls' moral and student identities were the strongest predictors of their achievement, whereas their moral, student, physical, and peer identities predicted their well-being. Person-centered results delineated four subgroups of girls based on their profiles of well being and achievement. The largest group of girls (46%) was characterized by well being and positive school achievement and had balanced adult- and peer-oriented identities. The second largest group (35%), characterized by emotional distress and average school achievement, had positive student and negative physical and peer identity representations. The third group (12%), characterized by emotional distress and poor school achievement, reported pervasive negative representations. The final group (7%), characterized by well being and poor achievement, did not consider themselves good students but did see themselves as physically attractive. Interviews revealed identity challenges characteristic of girls in each subgroup.