Finally, the level of support that adolescents receive from adults at school may have important implications for their achievement motivation. Connell and Halpern-Felsher (1997) found that higher levels of perceived adult support at school was related to higher levels of self-regulated motivation among a sample of African American adolescents in an urban junior high school. Yet, it's important to note that this portion of the study was cross-sectional in nature, making it impossible to determine the direction of the relationship between support from adults at school and adolescents' achievement motivation. However, Ryan and Patrick (2001) also find a link between eighth grade students' perceptions of their teachers' support, as well as their perceptions of teachers' emphasis on mutual respect between classmates, and their motivation in middle school in a sample of students from three ethnically diverse Midwestern middle schools. Further, the Ryan and Patrick (2001) study was longitudinal and controlled for prior levels of motivation and achievement, therefore providing further evidence supporting Connell and Halpern-Felsher's findings.