Longitudinal Relationships Among Child School Engagement, Parental Monitoring, and Child Prosocial Behavior: A Child-Parent Synergistic Mechanism.

Numerous contextual factors have been identified that impact the development of children's prosocial behavior, yet the influence of child-initiated factors on prosocial behavior and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study employed three longitudinal models to examine in depth how children's school engagement may promote the development of their own prosocial behavior. Three-wave longitudinal data from 4691 children (M age = 9.480, SD = 0.507; 48.2% female) with 2-year intervals were used. Sequentially, a cross-lagged panel model, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model, and a parallel process latent growth model were constructed. The findings indicated that children's school engagement consistently predicted the future level, dynamic changes at within-person level, and long-term trends in their prosocial behavior, and these longitudinal relationships were partially mediated by parental monitoring. These results reveal a child-parent synergistic mechanism for the development of prosocial behavior, wherein children's school engagement both directly promotes their own prosocial behavior and simultaneously enhances prosocial behavior through eliciting increased parental monitoring.

Associations between internet addiction and school engagement among Turkish college students: mediating role of psychological distress.

Introduction: Internet addiction has become a subject of growing concern with adverse consequences. This study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of psychological distress in the relationship between internet addiction and school engagement. Methods: Data were obtained from 732 Turkish college students (M = 20.98, SD = 2.58). The data were collected through Young's Internet Addiction Test, Depression, Stress and Anxiety Scale (DASS21)-Short Form, and University Student Engagement Inventory. Mediation analysis was performed to investigate the mediating effects of depression, anxiety, and stress in the association between internet addiction and school engagement. Results: The results of the study showed that internet addiction was positively associated with psychological distress and negatively associated with school engagement, whereas psychological distress had a negative relationship with school engagement. This study also found that depression, anxiety, and stress acted as mediators in the relationship between internet addiction and behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement. Conclusion: This study has provided evidence that young adults with tendency of internet addiction may experience school engagement problems as well as psychological problems. Our findings underscore the need for special educational intervention programs aimed at encouraging college youth to limit their internet use for their future due to its negative consequences and raising awareness in this vulnerable group and their families.

Self-Regulation and Academic Learning in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Links to School Engagement and Levels of Autism Characteristics.

Children with autism spectrum disorder often demonstrate self-regulation challenges and academic difficulties. Although self-regulation has been well documented as an important factor for academic achievement in neurotypical children, little is known about how it is related to academic learning in autistic children, especially during preschool, a critical developmental period for both emergent academic skills and self-regulatory abilities. It is also unclear whether school engagement or autism characteristics influence the relation between self-regulation and academic learning in autistic children during preschool. Thirty-two autistic preschoolers participated in this study. Direct measures and parent reports were used to measure three dimensions of self-regulation, including executive function, effortful control, and emotion regulation. Classroom-based data from multiple academic programs were used to reflect their average rates of achieving new literacy and mathematics learning goals. Teachers reported the participants' levels of school engagement, and their autism characteristics were measured directly. Emotion regulation was significantly linked to the rate of meeting literacy learning goals in autistic preschoolers, whereas multiple executive function skills, including inhibitory and attentional control and working memory, were associated with their mathematics learning rate. Emotion regulation demonstrated a stronger association with literacy learning when autistic children were more engaged in classroom activities. Levels of autism characteristics did not mediate or moderate the association between self-regulation and academic learning. Future interventions and teaching should consider fostering self-regulation and facilitating school engagement for autistic preschoolers besides targeting their learning performance on specific academic content to promote their current and future academic success.

Understanding boys' underrepresentation in private and enriched programmes during the transition to secondary school.

BACKGROUND: In the past decades, there has been a growing concern to understand why boys struggle in school. One of the turning points in students' educational trajectories likely to exacerbate boys' academic difficulties is students' enrolment in private or enriched school programmes, as boys are underrepresented in such programmes. METHOD: To better understand this gender imbalance, our research draws on a longitudinal design to examine whether grade 6 students' externalizing behaviours, school engagement and school grades in mathematics and language arts relate to secondary school programme attendance, among a sample size of 577 students (277 boys). RESULTS: Path analysis showed that only language arts grades predicted enrolment in private or selective public programmes and contributed to boys' underrepresentation in these programmes. CONCLUSIONS: Such findings have important implications for understanding boys' underachievement and low persistence in school as well as to guide interventions to promote gender and overall educational equity in school.

Associations between a technical assistance model to build school organizational capacity and improvements in student perceptions of school climate.

Organizational capacity building-the process of developing leadership, collecting and analyzing data, building buy-in, and implementing programming-is foundational to effectively changing schools, and frequently relies on technical assistance. This study employed a quasi-experimental, repeated measured design to evaluate the role of technical assistance provided through Safe School Certification model in improving school climate. Schools worked through an eight-element framework, using data from a sample of six middle and high schools in Washington, D.C. that completed data collection in all years of the evaluation. Students in schools receiving technical assistance for implementing the SSC Framework had more positive changes in perceptions of school climate than students in schools that did not receive support, but those differences were small. The results from this study offer limited evidence that providing schools with technical assistance to improve organizational capacity is associated with more positive student perceptions of school climate.

Ethnic-Racial Socialization, Teacher Discrimination, and Black Youth's School Engagement and Achievement.

Ethnic-racial socialization is one strategy Black parents use to support their children's school engagement and academic achievement given the occurrence and toxic effects of discrimination. Egalitarianism and preparation for bias socialization messages have yielded mixed evidence of promotive and protective effects for Black youth's school outcomes, and effects may vary according to ethnicity. Thus, this research examined associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and school engagement and achievement, and whether these messages protected against teacher discrimination effects on academic achievement transmitted through school engagement, among a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Ethnic-racial socialization message content and the frequency of communication about race demonstrated different associations with engagement (i.e., school bonding, aspiration-expectation discrepancy, and disciplinary actions) and achievement (i.e., grades) for African American and Caribbean Black youth. However, the benefits were not sufficient to combat the adverse effects of teacher discrimination on school engagement and, in turn, achievement. These findings highlight the utility of integrating ethnic-racial socialization into prevention programs to support Black youth's school experiences; demonstrate the importance of attention to heterogeneity within Black youth; and underscore the critical need for prevention programs to address teacher discrimination.

Callous-unemotional Traits and Child Response to Teacher Rewards, Discipline, and Instructional Methods in Chinese Preschools: A Classroom Observation Study.

Atypical responses to teacher rewards, discipline and different forms of instructional methods have been identified as potential contributors to disruptive behavior, low school engagement, and academic underachievement in children with elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. To date, research on CU traits in schools has relied on interview or questionnaire methods and has predominantly been conducted in Western countries. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the relationships between CU traits and children's responses to teacher rewards, discipline and instructional methods in the Chinese preschool context using classroom observation. Eight teachers (7 females, 1 male; M = 37.66 years) and 116 children (56% girls; M = 5.16 years) from two mainstream Chinese preschools participated in the study. Of the 116 eligible children, the behavior of 108 children from four classes were observed during classroom activities. Findings indicated that CU traits were not related to children's responses to discipline, nor did CU traits moderate the relationship between instructional methods and children's academic engagement. Higher CU traits predicted a greater frequency of one-to-one teacher-child interaction. Our findings offer initial insights into the potential of early school-based interventions in fostering engagement and prosocial behavior among children with CU traits. However, they also highlight the need for additional support for preschool teachers, who face the challenge of managing these high-risk children who appear to require more individual time and attention.

Lifestyle Factors Counteract the Neurodevelopmental Impact of Genetic Risk for Accelerated Brain Aging in Adolescence.

BACKGROUND: The transition from childhood to adolescence is characterized by enhanced neural plasticity and a consequent susceptibility to both beneficial and adverse aspects of one's milieu. METHODS: To understand the implications of the interplay between protective and risk-enhancing factors, we analyzed longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (n = 834; 394 female). We probed the maturational correlates of positive lifestyle variables (friendships, parental warmth, school engagement, physical exercise, healthy nutrition) and genetic vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia) and sought to further elucidate their implications for psychological well-being. RESULTS: Genetic risk factors and lifestyle buffers showed divergent relationships with later attentional and interpersonal problems. These effects were mediated by distinguishable functional neurodevelopmental deviations spanning the limbic, default mode, visual, and control systems. More specifically, greater genetic vulnerability was associated with alterations in the normative maturation of areas rich in dopamine (D2), glutamate, and serotonin receptors and of areas with stronger expression of astrocytic and microglial genes, a molecular signature implicated in the brain disorders discussed here. Greater availability of lifestyle buffers predicted deviations in the normative functional development of higher density GABAergic (gamma-aminobutyric acidergic) receptor regions. The two profiles of neurodevelopmental alterations showed complementary roles in protection against psychopathology, which varied with environmental stress levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our results underscore the importance of educational involvement and healthy nutrition in attenuating the neurodevelopmental sequelae of genetic risk factors. They also underscore the importance of characterizing early-life biomarkers associated with adult-onset pathologies.

Peer Influences on (Dis)Engagement in Early Adolescence: the Role of Friendship, Social Status, and Academic Status.

Academic engagement in adolescence is shaped by influences from the peer environment, yet the types of peers impacting engagement remain unclear. This study explores the roles of friends, popular students, and intelligent students in shaping peers' behavioral and emotional (dis)engagement. Data were analyzed from 3409 Flemish eighth-grade students (Mage = 13.48 years, SD = 0.46, 50.09% female), utilizing self-reports and peer nominations to measure (dis)engagement and map friendship, popularity, and intelligence networks in the fall and spring. Longitudinal network analysis revealed that, while accounting for selection and network structure, friends influenced all dimensions of engagement. Popular students influenced emotional disengagement, and intelligent students impacted emotional engagement. These findings underscore the intricate nature of peer dynamics, highlighting the need for a multidimensional approach to studying peer influences on engagement.

Hukou-based Discrimination and Migrant Adolescents' Adaptation: Migrant Pattern Differences among the Buffering Role of School Engagement.

While the detrimental consequences of racial/ethnic discrimination for adolescent adaptation are well established, little is known about the long-term impact of hukou-based discrimination from the hukou (household registration) system and the potential protective benefits of adolescents' internal capabilities; furthermore, there have been even fewer studies examining potential migrant pattern differences in the association. The current study addressed these gaps by investigating the longitudinal associations between hukou-based discrimination and migrant adolescents' adaptation outcomes (cognitive ability, depressive symptoms, and behavioral problems), as well as whether school engagement moderated these pathways, and whether this function varied by adolescents' migrant patterns. The data were obtained from 1226 migrant adolescents (51.31% male; 51.47% urban migrants, 48.53% rural migrants) aged 12 to 16 years (Mage = 13.56, SD = 0.69 at Wave 1) from the China Education Panel Survey in two waves separated by twelve months. Multilevel modeling revealed that hukou-based discrimination from peers and teachers was negatively related to cognitive abilities, but positively related to depressive symptoms and behavioral problems. School engagement served not only as a facilitator of adaptation but also as a protective factor against hukou-based discrimination. The moderating effect of school engagement was more pronounced in urban migrants than in rural migrants. The current study's findings highlight the role of hukou-based discrimination in adaptation disparities and shed light on the importance of internal capabilities in protecting migrant adolescents with different migration patterns from the detrimental impacts of discrimination on the adaptation process.

Revisión sistemática del compromiso escolar en educación secundaria / A systematic review of methodological aspects of student engagement research in secondary students

Resumen La investigación sobre el compromiso escolar de los estudiantes ha crecido significativamente en la última década y su medición es de gran interés en la investigación educativa. Esto se podría explicar por su potencial para comprender problemas educativos importantes con respecto a las trayectorias académicas de los estudiantes, incluida la adaptación a la escuela, el rendimiento y los logros académicos, las tasas de finalización y la deserción escolar. Se ha evidenciado que los estudiantes que se sienten más comprometidos con su escuela experimentan una trayectoria escolar más positiva y tienen una vida más exitosa, por lo que se considera que el compromiso escolar es una variable protectora vinculada a tasas más bajas de delincuencia, abuso de sustancias y depresión. Para obtener una comprensión más profunda del cuerpo de investigación actual sobre el compromiso escolar de los estudiantes, esta revisión de la literatura tuvo por objetivo analizar las características metodológicas de la investigación empírica cuantitativa sobre ese compromiso de los estudiantes en la escuela secundaria. Como método se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura en las bases de datos Web of Science, Scopus y SciELO del período 2013 a 2020. Cuarenta y siete artículos cumplieron los criterios de inclusión establecidos. Los resultados evidenciaron que casi todos los estudios se realizaron en Estados Unidos, mientras que ninguno de los artículos analizados fue desarrollado en América Latina. Con respecto al tamaño de la muestra, se identificó que la mayoría de los estudios revisados ​​tenían un tamaño de muestra entre 501 y 5000 participantes. En cuanto a los diseños de investigación utilizados en estos estudios, la mayoría utilizó un diseño correlacional, pero solo unos pocos implementaron diseños longitudinales o cuasi experimentales. Se identificó la coexistencia de diferentes marcos conceptuales sobre el compromiso escolar; sin embargo, la investigación concuerda en comprenderlo como un constructo multidimensional que implica el involucramiento del estudiante en actividades relacionadas con la escuela y su estudio. La diversidad conceptual del constructo de compromiso escolar se refleja en los numerosos instrumentos identificados en esta revisión, en los que las dimensiones más prevalentes del compromiso escolar fueron la dimensión conductual, cognitiva y emocional. Respecto de los tipos de variables incluidas en los estudios de compromiso escolar, se observó que se han incluido un gran número que cubren diferentes aspectos y temas relacionados con las experiencias académicas de los estudiantes, como las relacionadas con los propios estudiantes, así como las relacionadas con los padres, compañeros, profesores y escuelas. En conclusión, dado que el compromiso escolar de los estudiantes es una variable que se ha considerado crítica en contextos académicos, a medida que se realicen estudios futuros en este campo, será importante examinar la correlación de diferentes tipos de variables con el compromiso escolar de los estudiantes. Se podrían examinar las potenciales variables moderadoras que podrían surgir al realizar estudios en nuevos entornos educativos o culturalmente diversos, por ejemplo, con estudiantes con necesidades especiales. Esto es especialmente importante cuando se considera a la región Latinoamericana. Dado que la mayoría de los estudios se han realizado en Estados Unidos, se requiere considerar aspectos importantes antes de su implementación, como la validez de los instrumentos de medida, los que podrían estar sesgados si no se adaptan a la cultura Latinoamericana. Además, los estudios futuros deberían definir con precisión el constructo de compromiso escolar de los estudiantes y lograr un consenso en la investigación.

Abstract Student engagement research has grown significantly in the past decade and measuring it is of high interest in educational research. To gain a deeper understanding of the current body of research on student engagement, this review aims to analyze the design characteristics of empirical quantitative research on student engagement in secondary school. A systematic review was performed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO databases from the period 2013 to 2020. Forty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria. The results revealed that most studies were performed in North America and none in Latin America; the designs were mainly measuring variable associations. Teacher-related variables are the least examined variables. The instruments used to measure the student engagement and the constructs employed, shows there is substantial theoretical heterogeneity among studies. Future studies need to accurately define student engagement; give further attention to variables related to teachers, peers, families, and institutional conditions.

School engagement, school climate and youth externalizing behaviors: direct and indirect effects of parenting practices.

This research aimed to explore the direct and indirect effects of students' school engagement, school climate and parenting practices on youth's externalizing behaviors. A quantitative methodology with a sample of 183 Portuguese students, aged between 11 and 16 years old, was used. The main results suggested negative associations between externalizing behaviors and higher levels of school engagement and positive school climate. Poor parental supervision, inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment were positively related with externalizing behaviors, contrary to parental involvement and positive parenting that were associated with lower levels of externalizing behaviors. However, negative parenting practices were associated with lower levels of school engagement. Additionally, the results indicated that parenting practices might influence youth's externalizing behaviors through school engagement.

The effect of problematic smartphone use on school engagement and disengagement among middle school students: The mediating role of academic procrastination and sleep quality.

INTRODUCTION: Although a few research have tried to explore the relationship between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and school engagement, most of them are limited to relatively simple correlation, and the mechanism needs to be further explored. This research focused on the relationship between PSU and school engagement/disengagement, and intended to verify two mediation paths. METHODS: We conducted two studies in 2019 at a middle school in China. 289 students (44.6% girls), aged 11-18 (Mage = 13.25, standard deviation [SD] = 1.73), participated in Study 1, a longitudinal cross-lag analysis intend to verify the relationship between PSU and school engagement/disengagement. Using a separate sample, Study 2 explored the mediating roles of academic procrastination and sleep quality. Four hundred thirty-two students aged 11-19 (42.1% girls, Mage = 16.11, SD = 1.56) participated in this cross-sectional study. In both studies, all participants completed self-report measures in classrooms during regular school hours. RESULTS: In Study 1, the results showed that PSU (T1) could significantly predict school engagement/disengagement (T2), but school engagement/disengagement (T1) could not predict PSU (T2). In Study 2, we found that academic procrastination could mediate the effect of PSU on school engagement, and sleep quality could mediate the effect of PSU on both school engagement and disengagement. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlighted that the school engagement/disengagement of adolescents can be influenced by PSU through several different ways, through which we can protect adolescents from the negative effects of PSU.

Subjective well-being and school engagement before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic: What good are positive emotions?

The present study overcomes the limited empirical evidence on the association between well-being and school engagement in times of adversity by exploiting available data from two large and comparable samples of eighth graders; one obtained prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the second obtained during the pandemic. Results suggest that adolescents were less engaged with their learning context during the pandemic, as well as lower in positive and negative affect, but slightly more satisfied with life. Through SEM we found a stronger positive association between positive affect and school engagement in the COVID-19 group compared with the pre-COVID-19 group. This finding highlights the important role of positive affect in supporting better academic functioning in the aftermath of a global crisis.

Cortisol response marks biological sensitivity to kindergartners' social hierarchies for emerging school engagement.

This longitudinal study investigated how kindergartners' position in the classroom social hierarchy and cortisol response relate to their change in school engagement across the first year of kindergarten (N = 332, M = 5.3 years, 51% boys, 41% White, 18% Black). We used naturalistic classroom observations of social hierarchy positions, laboratory-based challenges to elicit salivary cortisol response, and teacher, parent, and child reports of emotional engagement with school. Robust, clustered regression models revealed that in the fall, lower cortisol response (but not social hierarchy position) was associated with greater school engagement. However, by spring, significant interactions emerged. Highly reactive, subordinate children showed increases in school engagement from fall to spring of the kindergarten year, whereas highly reactive, dominant children showed decreases in school engagement. This is some of the first evidence that higher cortisol response marks biological sensitivity to early peer-based social contexts.

Exploring pathways linking early childhood adverse experiences to reduced preadolescent school engagement.

BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with school disengagement, contributing to chronic absenteeism and underachievement. OBJECTIVE: This prospective longitudinal study explored malleable mediators that might account for the developmental progression from early childhood ACEs to preadolescent school disengagement. Negative cascades were tested that explored student-teacher relationship quality and child behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing) as potential mediators. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 556 children were recruited from Head Start preschool classrooms (Mage = 4.67 years old, SD = 0.32; 51% female; 58% European American, 25% African American, 19% Latinx) at which time parents reported on ACEs. METHODS: Children were followed longitudinally; kindergarten and third grade teachers rated student-teacher relationship quality and classroom behavior problems. Students described their school engagement (i.e., academic involvement, school bonding, and teacher affiliation) in fifth grade as they prepared for the transition into middle school. RESULTS: Path models documented a mediated cascade linking early childhood ACES through poor kindergarten student-teacher relationship quality to elevated third grade internalizing problems (mediation path ß = 0.018, SE = 0.009, p < 0.05) which, in turn, led to reduced fifth-grade school engagement (mediation path ß = 0.027, SE = 0.014, p = 0.05). Early childhood ACEs also predicted elevated externalizing problems in elementary school, but without mediation by student-teacher relationship quality or link to fifth-grade school engagement. CONCLUSION: Results are discussed in light of understanding developmental processes that link early ACEs with school difficulties and informing the design of preventive interventions for children at risk.

Biophysiological stress markers relate differently to grit and school engagement among lower- and higher-track secondary school students.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between adolescents' biophysiological stress (i.e. cortisol, alpha-amylase and oxidative stress) and the development of grit and school engagement over one school year. AIMS: The study aims to identify how objective stress affects grit and three dimensions of school engagement. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the study considers lower- and higher-track school students and their genders. SAMPLE: The sample consists of secondary school students (N = 82; MAge  = 13.71; SD = 0.67; 48% girls) from Germany. METHODS: Students participated in a questionnaire and a biophysiological study in the first semester (t1) of the school year and completed the same questionnaire at the end of the school year (t2). After conducting whole-sample analysis, a multi-group cross-lagged panel model was calculated to identify differences among students at lower- and higher-track schools. RESULTS: Whole-sample analysis reveals that students who exhibit high levels of cortisol report lower cognitive school engagement at t2, whereas students who exhibit high levels of alpha-amylase exhibit less grit at t2. Additionally, lower-track students who exhibited high cortisol levels reported lower cognitive and emotional school engagement throughout the school year. Furthermore, higher-track students with high oxidative stress levels reported lower grit and behavioural school engagement at t2. CONCLUSIONS: Examining the relationship between biophysiological stress markers and grit and school engagement of students at lower- and higher-track schools indicates that the educational context and its specific subculture shapes physiological stress reactions, which are related differently to grit and engagement dimensions.

The effects of stress on adolescents' school engagement.

PROBLEM: Adolescents experience stress due to physical, cognitive, emotional and sexual development. This descriptive study was conducted to find out whether stress experienced by adolescents affected their school engagement. METHODS: The sample was 440 students studying in a high schools in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey between October 2020 and January 2021. The data were collected using the Sociodemographic Information Form, the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-S) and the School Engagement Scale. FINDINGS: Statistically significant differences were found between adolescents' sociodemographic characteristics and mean scores on the ASQ-S subdimension and total scores (p ˂ 0.05). A strong negative association was found between adolescents' ASQ mean subdimension and total scores and their School Engagement Scale mean subdimension and total scores (p ˂ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It was found that adolescents' sociodemographic characteristic affected their stress levels and school engagement and that high stress levels experienced by adolescents negatively affected their school engagement.

Reciprocal effects of mathematics performance, school engagement and burnout during adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Transitioning into adolescence while simultaneously facing greater academic demands as the level of education increases often entails both academic challenges and general declines in students' school-related well-being. Still, however, relatively little is known about the causal relationship between students' academic well-being (i.e., school engagement and burnout) and their performance during the adolescent years. AIMS: This study examined longitudinal relations between adolescents' mathematics performance, school engagement and burnout (exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy) across lower secondary education. SAMPLE: Data came from a longitudinal research project, following Finnish lower secondary school (grades 7-9) students (N = 1131) over 4 years (2016-2019). METHODS: Students completed standardized mathematics tests and self-report measures of school engagement and burnout at four time points, twice within both 7th and 9th grade. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to examine pathways between engagement, burnout and mathematics performance over time. RESULTS: Higher mathematics performance increased students' engagement and lowered their exhaustion and cynicism over time, whereas both engagement and exhaustion predicted higher performance. Negative relations were also found from inadequacy and cynicism on students' mathematics performance. Furthermore, school burnout predicted engagement both positively (from exhaustion) and negatively (from cynicism and inadequacy) within and between the school years, whereas engagement only predicted cynicism and inadequacy negatively within 7th grade. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that the overall relation between students' mathematics performance, engagement and burnout is rather reciprocal, but also, that the relations become more prominent over time, demonstrating the importance of supporting both learning and well-being in school.

Student resilience to COVID-19-related school disruptions: The value of historic school engagement.

Does historic school engagement buffer the threats of disrupted schooling - such as those associated with the widespread COVID-19-related school closures - to school engagement equally for female and male high school students? This article responds to that pressing question. To do so, it reports a study that was conducted in 2018 and 2020 with the same sample of South African students (n = 172; 66.30% female; average age in 2020: 18.13). A moderated moderation model of the 2018 and 2020 data showed that historic levels of school engagement buffered the negative effects of disrupted schooling on subsequent school engagement (R² = .43, ß = -5.09, p < .05). This protective effect was significant for girl students at moderate and high levels of historic school engagement, but not at lower levels of historic school engagement. Disrupted schooling did not significantly affect school engagement for male students at any level of historic school engagement. In addition, student perceptions of teacher kindness were associated with higher school engagement and having experienced an adverse event at school with lower school engagement. The results point to the importance of facilitating school engagement and enabling school environments - also when schooling is disrupted.