Examining the link between adult attachment style, employment and academic achievement in first semester higher education

Is there sufficient evidence for the association between executive dysfunction and academic performance in adolescents with major depressive disorder?: a systematic review

Adult depression, undoubtedly associated with executive dysfunction, leads to poor work performance. As depression in adolescents may have a negative impact on school performance, we aimed to analyse the possible relationship between selected executive deficits and academic performance. Executive dysfunctions may have more severe consequences on school performance at high school, as this stage of education requires engagement in long-term goals, whether writing an essay or preparing for an exam. Whilst inhibitory control is necessary at all educational stages, it seems that planning and decision-making play a greater role in high school than in primary school. We reviewed studies on executive functions conducted in adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) to establish the possible relationship between executive processes and school performance in depressed adolescents. The search identified 5 studies addressing planning and decision-making in adolescents with MDD, but none of those studies reported educational achievement. We identified a considerable gap in the research on the functional impact of depression in adolescents. Identifying the link between specific executive deficits and school performance could guide tailored therapeutic interventions.

Attachment and task persistence: attachment orientations, perception of teacher's responsiveness, and adolescents' persistence in academic tasks

The goal of the two studies reported here was to examine the contribution of adolescents' attachment orientations (anxiety, avoidance) and their perception of teacher's responsiveness to persistence in academic tasks. In Study 1 (N = 160), we assessed self-reports of persistence in schoolwork. In Study 2 (N = 240), we manipulated the symbolic presence of participants' teacher (teacher priming) and assessed their actual persistence in a cognitive task. Across the two studies, attachment anxiety was associated with decreased persistence, and the perception of teacher as a responsive figure contributed to heightened persistence and buffered the detrimental effects of attachment anxiety. Study 2's findings also showed that the beneficial effects of perceived teacher's responsiveness on actual task persistence were found only when the teacher was made contextually salient but not when the teacher was not salient. We discussed the dispositional and contextual sources of attachment security that contribute to task persistence.