Specific Characteristics of Schoolchildren’s Personal Resource: Predictors of Abnormal Behaviour and Causes of Academic Indolence

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the connection between the non-normative forms of behaviour of schoolchildren with young people's satisfaction with the attitude of significant persons (parents, teachers, peers), as well as personal traits, such as self-confidence, accountability and self-regulation. The study is based on the views of the ecopsychological approach to the study of mental development and was conducted in a comprehensive school. The study involved 698 students of grades 8–11. The author used own methods ‘Personal Resource of Schoolchildren’ and ‘Academic Indolence, or Reasons for Reluctance to Learn’. Results of descriptive statistics and validation permitted us to proceed to the research tasks. The hypothesis of a significant association between dissatisfaction with the attitudes of significant persons and disturbing use of digital devices (teachers ,458; parents ,431), tendency to violate rules (teache­rs ,422; parents ,417) and tendency to suicidal feelings (teachers ,434; parents ,692; peers ,452) at a significance level of p<0.001 was confirmed (Spearman). Such personal traits as self-confidence, accountability and self-regulation can be viewed as a condition of normal behaviour. Applied value of the results of the study lies in the development of psychological tools to prevent abnormal behaviour of young people by educating teachers on the harmonization of relationships. The developed methods may be of interest for the school psychology staff.