Group Differences in Functional Impairment, Social Support and Academic Achievement among Adolescents

The aim of conducting the present study was to identify the effect of the social support and functional impairment on the academic achievement of adolescents. The sample (N = 200) was taken from both public (n = 95) and private schools (n = 105) including an equal number of boys and girls of grade 9th and 10th. The age range of the sample was from 14 to 17 years. Brief Impairment Scale (Bird et al., 2005) and Social Support Scale (Manzoor, 2009) were used to measure the functional impairment and social support, respectively, where as academic achievement was assessed with final academic results of the students. Results showed that social support had significant positive relationship with academic achievement; while functional impairment had significant negative association with academic achievement. Significant gender differences were found in relation to social support, functional impairment and academic achievement. Significant differences were also found in relation to parental education on academic achievement and paternal education on social support. Results showed that social support play a vital role as a mediator in explaining the relationship between functional impairment and academic achievement. Future implications of the study were also discussed.