The findings from another study suggest that adolescents' earlier levels of academic adjustment have implications for their later achievement motivation. In a sample of urban, African American junior high school students, Connell and Halpern-Felsher (1997) found that adolescents with higher levels of educational risk behavior (including low attendance, low standardized test scores, suspensions, course failure, being below the grade level expected for one's age) reported being less self-regulated in school[1]. However, it is important to note that, while this study examined multiple variables over time, the relationship between educational risk behavior and achievement motivation was examined at a single point in time. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the direction of causality in this relationship.

[1] The relationship between adolescents' educational risk behavior and their self-regulation appeared to occur indirectly through the relationship between students' educational risk behavior and decreased perceived teacher support for their schooling, which in turn predicted lower levels of self-regulation (in other words, less intrinsic motivation).