Growth mindset, persistence, and self-efficacy in early adolescents: Associations with depression, anxiety, and externalising behaviours

Figures & data

Table 1. Self-efficacy questionnaire for children (SEQ-C).

Subscale	Measure item
Academic	1. I can ask teachers to help me when I get stuck on schoolwork.
	2. I can study even if there are other interesting things to do.
	3. I can study for a test.
	4. I can finish my homework every day.
	5. I can pay attention during every class.
	6. I can succeed in understanding all subjects in school.
	7. I succeed in making my parents satisfied with my schoolwork.
	8. I can succeed in passing tests at school.
Emotional	1. I can succeed at cheering myself up when something bad has happened to me.
	2. I can succeed in being calm even when I’m scared.
	3. I can stop myself from being nervous.
	4. I can control my feelings.
	5. I can give myself a pep talk when I feel low.
	6. I can tell a friend I don’t feel well.
	7. I can succeed in stopping unpleasant thoughts.
	8. I can succeed in not worrying that bad things might happen.
Social	1. I can express my opinions when others disagree with me.
	2. I can become friends with other children.
	3. I can chat with an unfamiliar person.
	4. I can work in harmony with my classmates.
	5. I can tell other children that they are doing something I don’t like.
	6. I can tell a funny event to a group of children.
	7. I can succeed in staying friends with other children.
	8. I can prevent arguments with other children.

Table 2. African youth psychological assessment (AYPA).

Subscale	Items
Anxiety	I worry constantly, I do not sleep at night, I have a lot of worries, I think people are chasing me, I cry continuously
Depression	I have a lot of thoughts, I have pain all over my body, I think I am of no use, I think about suicide, I sit alone, I get headaches, I feel a lot of pain in my heart, I sit with my cheek in my palm, I cry when I am alone, I feel cold, I want to be alone, I hold my head, I drink alcohol, I do not think straight, I mutter to myself, I feel I can do nothing to help myself, I feel sad, I think of bad things
Externalising Behaviours	I am disobedient, I insult friends, I fight, I use bad language, I am disrespectful, I misbehave, I deceive, I am a rough person, I consume drugs (like marijuana)

Table 3. Sample characteristics (N = 579).

	Girls		Boys		Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Age (years)
9	7	2.3	6	2.2	13	2.3
10	139	45.0	137	50.7	276	47.7
11	161	52.1	127	47.0	288	49.7
12	2	0.6	0	0	2	0.4
Mean Age (SD)	10.5 (0.56)		10.4 (0.54)		10.48 (0.55)
Grade
3	77	24.9	95	35.2	172	29.7
4	142	46.0	119	44.1	261	45.1
5	90	29.1	56	20.7	146	25.2

Table 4. Pearson’s correlations between key variables.

	Key variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	Sex	–
2	Age	0.06	–
3	Academic self-efficacy	0.05	0.00	–
4	Social self-efficacy	0.02	0.01	0.59***	–
5	Emotional self-efficacy	−0.10*	0.01	0.53***	0.61***	–
6	Growth mindset	0.07	0.09*	0.27***	0.31***	0.23***	–
7	Persistence	0.10*	0.07	0.42***	0.34***	0.34***	0.38***	–
8	Depression	0.01	0.01	−0.08	−0.11**	−0.02	−0.17***	−0.03	–
9	Anxiety	0.01	0.04	0.01	−0.01	0.03	−0.12**	0.00	0.75***	–
10	Externalising symptoms	−0.03	0.03	−0.34***	−0.19***	−0.12**	−0.16***	−0.22***	0.51***	0.43***	–

*Correlation is significant at p < 0.05 level; **Correlation is significant at p < 0.01 level; ***Correlation is significant at p < 0.001 level.

Table 5. Descriptive statistics for measured variables.

		Male	Female	β	p-value	Total
		Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)			Mean (SD)
Self-efficacy
	Academic self-efficacy	33.4 (0.24)	33.8 (0.22)	0.38	0.245	33.6 (3.90)
	Social self-efficacy	30.2 (0.26)	30.4 (0.27)	0.16	0.678	30.3 (4.52)
	Emotional self-efficacy	30.1 (0.96)	28.9 (0.36)	1.22	0.013*	29.5 (5.93)
Mindsets
Growth mindset		18.1 (0.18)	18.6 (0.19)	0.46	0.085	18.4 (0.13)
Persistence		32.0 (0.22)	32.8 (0.23)	0.73	0.021*	32.4 (0.16)
Psychological symptoms
	Depression	4.1 (0.30)	4.2 (0.22)	0.10	0.818	4.16 (0.22)
	Anxiety	1.2 (0.12)	1.2 (0.11)	0.03	0.854	1.22 (0.08)
	Externalising behaviours	1.02 (0.14)	0.9 (0.12)	0.12	0.505	0.96 (0.09)

p-values in bold are significant; * < 0.05; ** < 0.01; *** < 0.001.

Table 6. Multigroup SEM model invariance and SEM models by sex.

Model	Multigroup SEM	RMSEA 90% CI								Δ From previous model
		χ^2 (df)	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	LB	UB	SRMR	p-value	Δ χ^2	Δ CFI	Δ RMSEA
1	Unconstrained	1498 (27)	0.987	0.943	0.073	0.045	0.104	0.033	<0.001	–	–	–
2	Constrained	1559 (54)	0.958	0.949	0.070	0.053	0.087	0.107	<0.001	62 (27)	−0.029	−0.003
	SEM models by sex
3	SEM boys	671 (27)	0.981	0.914	0.087	0.044	0.134	0.039	<0.001	–	–	–
4	SEM boys revised^a	671 (27)	0.997	0.986	0.035	<0.001	0.097	0.028	<0.001	0 (0)	0.016	−0.052
5	SEM girls	888 (27)	0.993	0.971	0.055	<0.001	0.102	0.031	<0.001	–	–	–
6	SEM girls revised^b	888 (27)	0.998	0.988	0.036	<0.001	0.093	0.024	<0.001	0(0)	0.005	−0.019

Note: SEM = structural equation model, LB = lower bound, UB = upper bound.

^a Revised model includes direct path from persistence to externalising behaviours.

^b Revised model includes direct path from growth mindset to depression.

Figure 1. Structural equation model for girls. *CFI = 0.998; TLI = 0.988; SRMR = 0.024; RMSEA = 0.036.

Table 7. Standardised path coefficients between mindsets, self-efficacy and mental health in girls.

Structural paths	Coefficient	SE^1	Z	p-value	95% Confidence Interval
Self-efficacy
Academic self-efficacy
Growth mindset	0.13	0.06	2.30	0.021*	0.02	0.24
Persistence	0.41	0.06	7.16	<0.001***	0.29	0.52
Social self-efficacy
Growth mindset	0.21	0.05	4.00	<0.001***	0.11	0.31
Persistence	0.37	0.05	6.90	<0.001***	0.26	0.47
Emotional self-efficacy
Growth mindset	0.10	0.06	1.82	0.068	−0.01	0.22
Persistence	0.39	0.05	7.30	<0.001***	0.28	0.49
Mental health
Depression
Academic self-efficacy	0.02	0.08	0.29	0.772	−0.14	0.19
Social self-efficacy	−0.15	0.09	−1.75	0.080	−0.32	0.02
Emotional self-efficacy	0.06	0.07	0.93	0.354	−0.07	0.20
Growth mindset	−0.08	0.05	−1.76	0.079	−0.18	0.01
Anxiety
Academic self-efficacy	0.00	0.09	0.05	0.961	−0.17	0.18
Social self-efficacy	0.00	0.09	−0.03	0.979	−0.18	0.17
Emotional self-efficacy	0.01	0.07	0.10	0.920	−0.13	0.14
Externalising behaviours
Academic self-efficacy	−0.41	0.10	−4.05	<0.001***	−0.61	−0.21
Social self-efficacy	−0.01	0.09	−0.17	0.867	−0.18	0.15
Emotional self-efficacy	0.10	0.07	1.58	0.113	−0.02	0.23
Covariance
(Academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy)	0.56	0.05	12.39	<0.001***	0.47	0.65
(Academic self-efficacy, emotional self-efficacy)	0.41	0.05	8.00	<0.001***	0.31	0.51
(Social self-efficacy, emotional self-efficacy)	0.58	0.04	13.11	<0.001***	0.49	0.66
(Depression, anxiety)	0.72	0.04	18.00	<0.001***	0.65	0.80
(Depression, externalising symptoms)	0.57	0.06	9.07	<0.001***	0.45	0.69
(Anxiety, externalising symptoms)	0.47	0.05	8.72	<0.001***	0.36	0.57

Note. *p < 0.05 **p < 0.01 ***p < 0.001; All measurement model paths were significant at the p < 0.001 level; ¹Robust Standard Errors reported.

Figure 2. Structural equation model for boys. *CFI = 0.997; TLI = 0.986; SRMR = 0.028; RMSEA = 0.035.

Table 8. Standardised path coefficients between mindsets, self-efficacy and mental health in boys.

Structural paths	Coefficient	SE^1	Z	p >|z|	95% Confidence interval
Academic self efficacy
Growth mindset	0.13	0.06	2.19	0.028*	0.01	0.25
Persistence	0.32	0.06	5.46	<0.001***	0.21	0.44
Social self efficacy
Growth mindset	0.22	0.05	3.96	<0.001***	0.11	0.33
Persistence	0.13	0.06	2.17	0.030*	0.01	0.24
Emotional self efficacy
Growth mindset	0.15	0.06	2.40	0.016*	0.03	0.26
Persistence	0.19	0.06	2.99	0.003**	0.06	0.31
Mental health
Depression
Academic self efficacy	−0.11	0.08	−1.30	0.194	−0.27	0.06
Social self efficacy	−0.11	0.09	−1.25	0.212	−0.27	0.06
Emotional self efficacy	0.13	0.07	1.77	0.078	−0.01	0.27
Anxiety
Academic self efficacy	0.00	0.09	−0.02	0.987	−0.18	0.17
Social self efficacy	−0.09	0.09	−1.03	0.302	−0.27	0.06
Emotional self efficacy	0.12	0.07	1.58	0.115	−0.03	0.26
Externalising Behaviours
Academic self efficacy	−0.26	0.07	−3.69	<0.001***	−0.40	0.12
Social self efficacy	−0.03	0.07	−0.51	0.612	−0.16	0.10
Emotional self efficacy	0.08	0.07	1.14	0.255	−0.06	0.21
Persistence	−0.19	0.05	−3.65	<0.001***	−0.28	0.09
Covariance
(Academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy)	0.47	0.06	8.29	<0.001***	0.36	0.58
(Academic self-efficacy, emotional self-efficacy)	0.50	0.05	9.83	<0.001***	0.40	0.60
(Social self-efficacy, emotional self-efficacy)	0.51	0.05	9.75	<0.001***	0.41	0.61
(Depression, anxiety)	0.80	0.03	24.84	<0.001***	0.73	0.86
(Depression, externalising symptoms)	0.46	0.06	7.28	<0.001***	0.34	0.59
(Anxiety, externalising symptoms)	0.46	0.08	5.59	<0.001***	0.30	0.62

Note. *p < 0.05 **p < 0.01 ***p < 0.001; All measurement model paths were significant at the p < 0.001 level; ¹Robust Standard Errors reported.

Table 9. Proportion of indirect effect to total effect mediated by self-efficacy on outcomes by sex.

	Boys			Girls
	Depression	Anxiety	Externalising behaviours	Depression	Anxiety	Externalising behaviours
Growth mindset	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.20***	1.00	1.00***
Persistence	0.14	1.00	0.29***	1.00	1.00	1.00***

Note: *p < 0.05 **p < 0.01 ***p < 0.001.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the CU Anschutz Digital Collections repository at https://digitalcollections.cuanschutz.edu/work/ns/d9f4ed30-c1cb-4495-8508-6c35d65b6a2a.