Factors contributing to student academic underachievement in war and conflict: A multilevel qualitative study

Guided by the ecological-transactional theory, this study investigates interrelated social and contextual multilevel factors contributing to academic underachievement in war and ongoing armed conflict. Twelve sixth-grade students were identified as academic underachievers and interviews were conducted with 40 informantsdthe 12 students, their parents, teachers, and counselors. All students exhibited symptoms of traumatic stress, had considerable problems with the cognitive process of learning and lacked basic study techniques. They experienced a considerable weakening of their natural social support system through lack of care, safety, or stability at home and additional burden in school, contributing to a profound sense of inadequacy and failure. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.