This study demonstrated that exposure to chaotic home environments predicted academic achievement in thirteen year old, rural adolescents (N = 145) living in Upstate New York. It was hypothesized learned helplessness may mediate the relationship between childhood environment and academic achievement in adolescence. In this thesis I propose a unique pathway to explain poor academic achievement in early adolescents living in chaotic environments as mediated by learned helplessness. Regression analysis revealed learned helplessness as a mediator between chaotic environments and academic achievement. Young adolescents with high levels of home chaos had higher levels of learned helplessness, which resulted in lower English and Math grades. Confounding covariance with income is discussed.