Longitudinal relationship between social skills and academic achievement in a gender perspective

Figures & data

Table 1. Number of students by grade level (N = 2,266)

Grade level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
T1	359	374	350	436	382	62	109	295
(Girls)	(46.2%)	(50%)	(49.5%)	(50%)	(52.4%)	(56.5%)	(55%)	(50.5%)
(Boys)	(53.8%)	(50%)	(50.5%)	(50%)	(47.6%)	(43.5%)	(45%)	(49.5%)
T2			359	374	350	436	382	62	109	295
(Girls)			(46.2%)	(50%)	(49.5%)	(50%)	(52.4%)	(56.5%)	(55%)	(50.5%)
(Boys)			(53.8%)	(50%)	(50.5%)	(50%)	(47.6%)	(43.5%)	(45%)	(49.5%)

Table 2. Descriptive statistics, means and standard deviations (N = 2,266)

Variables	Mean score (SD) Boys (n = 1,128)	Mean score (SD) Girls (n = 1,138)	Cohen’s d	p-value
Norwegian T1	3.85 (1.22)	4.33 (1.09)	−0.41	0.000
Norwegian T2	3.81 (1.20)	4.37 (1.06)	−0.48	0.000
Mathematics T1	4.13 (1.22)	4.20 (1.11)	−0.06	0.148
Mathematics T2	4.11 (1.30)	4.21 (1.19)	−0.08	0.058
English T1	3.67 (1.24)	4.04 (1.10)	−0.31	0.000
English T2	3.81 (1.32)	4.14 (1.15)	−0.27	0.000
Social skills T1	2.85 (0.52)	3.11 (0.45)	−0.51	0.001

Table 3. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between academic achievement and social skills (N = 2,266)

Academic achievement T2	Grade level	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Social skills T1		0.33*	0.47*	0.32*	0.37*	0.56*	0.65*	0.31*	0.46*
Academic achievement T1		0.56*	0.73*	0.76*	0.77*	0.81*	0.87*	0.72*	0.65*

* p ˂ 0.01.

Table 4. Random intercept model for academic achievement in Norwegian (N = 2,266)

Fixed effects	Norwegian T2
	M0		M1		M2		M3
	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Intercept	4.102***	0.031	4.127***	0.124	4.281***	0.106	4.279***	0.106
Age			−0.049***	0.014	−0.048***	0.014	−0.049***	0.014
Cultural background			0.309***	0.109	0.132	0.088	0.130	0.088
Boys			−0.261***	0.045	−0.233***	0.037	−0.232***	0.037
Social skills T1			1.154***	0.053	0.220***	0.050	0.262**	0.072
Norwegian T1					0.404***	0.029	0.403***	0.029
English T1					0.161***	0.028	0.162***	0.028
Mathematics T1					0.124***	0.024	0.124***	0.024
Boys * SosT1							−0.017	0.088
−2LL	7,111.984						5,364.151
AIC	7,117.984						5,388.151
BIC	7,135.161						5,456.539
School expl.%	0.31		0.44		0.78		0.82
Class expl.%	3.70***		5.63***		11.57***		11.57***
Individual expl.%	95.98***		93.93***		87.65***		87.61***

* p ˂ 0.05.

** p ˂ 0.01.

*** p ˂ 0.001.

Table 5. Random intercept model for academic achievement in mathematics (N = 2,266)

Fixed effects	Mathematics
	M0		M1		M2		M3
	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Intercept	4.195***	0.051	4.426***	0.125	4.536***	0.117	4.534***	0.117
Age			−0.103***	0.016	−0.103***	0.015	−0.103***	0.015
Cultural background			0.049	0.105	−0.008	0.096	−0.010	0.096
Boys			0.219***	0.044	0.116**	0.040	0.117**	0.040
Social skills T1			1.253***	0.049	0.238***	0.055	0.266***	0.079
Norwegian T1					0.129***	0.031	0.129***	0.031
English T1					0.141***	0.030	0.141***	0.030
Mathematics T1					0.478***	0.026	0.478***	0.026
Boys * Sos1							−0.049	0.097
−2LL	7,353.080						5,755.726
AIC	7,361.080						5,779.726
BIC	7,383.983						5,848.114
School expl.%	2.03		0.65		0.41		1.02
Class expl.%	5.37***		5.82***		13.05***		11.59***
Individual expl.%	92.60***		93.53***		86.53***		87.39***

* p ˂ 0.05.

** p ˂ 0.01.

*** p ˂ 0.001.

Table 6. Random intercept model for academic achievement in English (N = 2,266)

Fixed effects	English
	M0		M1		M2		M3
	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Intercept	3.976***	0.033	4.146***	0.138	4.256***	0.092	4.253***	0.114
Age			−0.007	0.015	−0.007	0.012	−0.007	0.015
Cultural background			−0.128	0.123	−0.246**	0.078	−0.250**	0.095
Boys			−0.047	0.051	−0.038	0.034	−0.036	0.040
Social skills T1			1.103***	0.060	0.009	0.042	0.048	0.079
Norwegian T1					0.245***	0.026	0.245***	0.031
English T1					0.449***	0.030	0.449***	0.030
Mathematics T1					0.123***	0.026	0.128***	0.026
Boys * Sos1							−0.098	0.096
−2LL	7,400.222						5,742.627
AIC	7,408.222						5,766.627
BIC	7,431.125						5,835.014
School expl.%	0		0		0		0
Class expl.%	4.01***		5.72***		12.60***		16.66***
Individual expl.%	95.99***		94.28***		87.40***		87.34***

* p ˂ 0.05.

** p ˂ 0.01.

*** p ˂ 0.001.