An online growth mindset intervention in a sample of rural adolescent girls.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Students living in rural areas of the United States exhibit lower levels of educational attainment than their suburban counterparts. Innovative interventions are needed to close this educational achievement gap. AIMS:We investigated whether an online growth mindset intervention could be leveraged to promote academic outcomes. SAMPLE:We tested the mindset intervention in a sample of 222 10th-grade adolescent girls (M age = 15.2; 38% White, 25% Black, 29% Hispanic) from four rural, low-income high schools in the Southeastern United States. METHODS:We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the growth mindset intervention, relative to a sexual health programme. We used random sampling and allocation procedures to assign girls to either the mindset intervention (n = 115) or an attention-matched control programme (n = 107). We assessed participants at pre-test, immediate post-test, and 4-month follow-up. RESULTS:Relative to the control condition, students assigned to the mindset intervention reported stronger growth mindsets at immediate post-test and 4-month follow-up. Although the intervention did not have a total effect on academic attitudes or grades, it indirectly increased motivation to learn, learning efficacy and grades via the shifts in growth mindsets. CONCLUSIONS:Results indicate that this intervention is a promising method to encourage growth mindsets in rural adolescent girls.
SUBMITTER: Burnette JL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5871528 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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