 Affiliation with a clique of aggressive peers and academic adjustment in secondary school: The moderating effect of parental support 
The transition to secondary school concurs with the beginning of adolescence, a developmental period marked by rapid changes in social influences that interact with each other in a complex way. This study focuses on how peer network affiliation and parent-child relationships can contribute to students’ academic adjustment in the early years of secondary school. Specifically, it examines the moderating effect of parental support in the association between adolescents’ involvement with a group of aggressive peers and their subsequent academic adjustment, measured by academic achievement and school disengagement. Students (n = 480) in their first or second year in a French-speaking secondary school in Belgium filled out a questionnaire in class on two occasions, one year apart. As anticipated, student affiliation with an aggressive clique predicts lower academic achievement in the next year. However, this decrease was more pronounced for students reporting a high level of parental support at the first time point. This unexpected result could be explained by a permissive parenting style frequently adopted by parents of youth in a highly aggressive peer context. That parenting style is characterized by parents’ showing high emotional support toward their adolescent but providing little structure and supervision to guide the adolescent’s choices and behaviors. This study suggests avenues to enhance interventions or prevention programs based on the current results.