Relational support from teachers and peers matters: Links with different profiles of relational support and academic engagement

Abstract

The present study examined whether there were discrete groups of early adolescents who experienced different levels of relational support from teachers and peers and how distinct profiles of relational support were associated with different dimensions of academic engagement in the classroom. Data on nine different indicators of teacher and peer relational support were collected from 714 fifth- (n = 394) and sixth-grade (n = 320) students from South Korea, along with their concurrent and subsequent academic engagement. Latent profile analyses revealed that there were four distinct relational support profiles: (1) Low Support, (2) Moderate Support, (3) Peer-Oriented, and (4) High Support. These patterns of relational support were associated with different levels of self- and teacher-reported academic engagement. The findings indicated that relational support from both teachers and peers was important, but that teachers played a more significant role in fostering early adolescents academic engagement.