Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Bernnie Murillo Pagán

Committee Member

Georgina Arguello

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

academic performance, academic self-efficacy, emotional well-being, secondary school transition, social support

Abstract

The transition to secondary school can intensify academic demands and emotional strain, making it a critical context for examining students’ psychological and social resources. This applied dissertation examined whether perceived social support (SS) moderates the association among academic self-efficacy (ASE), academic performance (AP) and emotional well-being (EWB) among seventh-grade students at a private, multilingual school in Puerto Rico. Using a time-lagged, nonexperimental correlational design, 14 students completed the academic subscale of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) and the Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-A) at the start of the academic year; EWB was assessed at midyear with the Negative and Positive Affect Scale (NAPAS), and AP was drawn from midyear Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth Reading and Mathematics scores.

Hierarchical moderation analyses (PROCESS Model 1) using bootstrapped confidence intervals examined whether SS conditioned the ASE–outcome relations. The ASE × SS interaction did not improve model fit for AP or EWB. For AP, the overall pattern was consistent with higher ASE associated with higher AP, although estimates were imprecise. For EWB, SS was negatively associated with affect balance, ASE showed no consistent association, and the interaction term contributed little beyond main effects.

Given the small sample and two-time-point design, findings were interpreted as exploratory and emphasized patterns and imprecision rather than confirmatory conclusions. Results highlighted the potential value of transition practices that strengthen competence beliefs and support systems that identify and respond early to adjustment needs. Future research should replicate these analyses with larger samples and additional time points, using measures validated for cultural and linguistically diverse students and instruments that differentiate social support by source and function.

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