Dynamics of personality trait structuring during student transition to secondary school

Introduction. A longitudinal study of children's mental development in the period of transition to secondary school (aged 9 to 14) was carried out in order to quantitatively analyse dynamics in the structuring of students' personal traits. The need to develop a systematic approach to the description of transition periods in psychosocial development determines the relevance of the paper. The purpose of the article is to report on the study that confirm the need to consider pre-adolescence (preteen) in terms of a distinct transition period (including pre-adolescent crisis) in mental development between primary school age and adolescence. Materials and Methods. Psychological testing was conducted using the 12 and 14 Cattell's Personality Factor Questionnaire (12PF, 14PF) and the Culture Fair Intelligence Test with the participating schoolchildren from the end of the third until the beginning of sixth grade and in eighth grade involving between 127 (3rd grade) and 66 students (8th grade). For data processing, factor analysis was used for the entire sample of respondents, as well as following their stratification by IQ and gender. Results. It is shown that, for the studied age range, the relationship between personality traits varies both qualitatively and quantitatively. General regularities in the structuring of cross-functional relationships that differentiate children of different sex and IQ level were found. The "stabilising combination" of the personal qualities for children under dynamic (non-equilibrium) psychosocial development is identified, the temporal boundaries of the preteen crisis marked obtained in the experiment. Discussion and Conclusion. The study of the dynamics of psychosocial development in the transition period on the basis of the study of cross-functional relationships structuring can be an effective tool for the analysis and creation of dynamic (non-equilibrium) models. The obtained quantitative results reveal the time frame and features of the transition period, as well as demonstrating the manifestation of the basic principles of mental development: systemic integration/differentiation and anticipation. The revealed features of the developmental dynamics of students should be considered in the preparation of curricula, as well as in when providing psychological and pedagogical support to students.