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This brief report presents on gender and age effects in academic motivation and engagement. The results are based on an updated and much expanded dataset (from prior research) of 33,778 students from 92 high schools in Australia. Findings show there are significant gender and age effects--a number of which are qualified by the interaction of gender and age. For the most part, females are higher in motivation and engagement than males and 12-13 year olds are more motivated and engaged than 14-15 year olds and 16-18 year olds. In terms of interaction effects, although males and females decline in motivation and engagement between 12-13 years and 14-15 years, females' motivation and engagement tends to increase in later adolescence (16-18 years) whereas males' motivation and engagement does not (or not to the same extent). Findings hold implications for practitioners and researchers seeking to better understand and address motivation and engagement relevant to males and females across adolescence. (Contains 1 table.)

Background: Academic buoyancy is students' capacity to successfully overcome setback and challenge that is typical of the ordinary course of everyday academic life. It may represent an important factor on the psycho-educational landscape assisting students who experience difficulties in school and schoolwork. Aims: This study investigated the role of academic buoyancy in the achievement and cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement of (1) students with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and (2) "regular" (or "general") students residing in the same classrooms and schools. The study also sought to extend prior research into academic buoyancy by including previously neglected and potentially influential factors such as personality and socio-economic status. Sample: Participants were "n" = 87 high school students with ADHD, "n" = 3374 non-ADHD peers, and "n" = 87 randomly drawn non-ADHD students. Method: Survey-based data were analysed using multigroup (ADHD, non-ADHD, randomly weighted non-ADHD) multivariate (multiple independent/covariate and dependent variables) path analysis. Results: The findings revealed a significant and positive association between academic buoyancy and outcomes for students with ADHD that generalized to non-ADHD groups. On occasion where academic buoyancy effects differed between the groups, effects favoured students with ADHD. Furthermore, academic buoyancy explained significant variance in outcomes for both groups of students after covariates (age, gender, parent education, language background, socio-economic status, personality) were entered. Conclusion: It is concluded that there is merit in widely promoting and fostering academic buoyancy among ADHD and non-ADHD students alike--and that academic buoyancy explains variance in outcomes beyond major intrapersonal factors such as personality, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and the like.

Interviews with university students selected as high or low in either self-handicapping or defensive pessimism identified personal perspectives on the nature of self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, the perceived reasons why they engage in these strategies and the perceived advantages that follow from them, and the extent to which ego goals and task goals mark their approach to their studies. (Contains 66 references, 1 table, and 2 appendixes.) (GCP)

Examines self-handicapping and defensive pessimism, the factors that predict these strategies, and the associations between these strategies and a variety of academic outcomes. Findings reveal that task orientation negatively predicts both self-handicapping and defensive expectations and positively predicts reflectivity. Students high in self-handicapping received lower end-of-year grades and were less likely to be in attendance one year later. (Contains 66 references, 4 tables, and an appendix.) (GCP)

Examines teachers' responses to concern about classroom misbehavior in terms of support they access, strategies they use, and information they require to more effectively deal with misbehavior. Results indicate that concern about their students' misbehavior was negatively associated with teachers' confidence and positively associated with the use of school-based support. (Author/GCP)