Emotional School Engagement Research Articles

Factors Associated with School Engagement Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Finnish Middle School Students

Abstract: Introduction: “School engagement” refers to the feelings and thoughts pupils have for school, which, according to theory, can be divided into behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement. Previously identified factors predicting school engagement are teacher-student relationship, individual characteristics, emotional stability, and gender. Aim: The current study addresses changes in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional school engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyzes the effect of previously identified risk factors on self-reported change in school engagement among middle-school students in Finland. Methods: We collected the data in the spring of 2021. Participants were 1,788 Finnish middle-school pupils (age range 12–17) who responded to an online survey during the school day. Results: After we controlled for multiple tests, the results revealed a few significant factors associated with negative changes in school engagement. However, prior anxiety, depression, or externalizing behavior were related to negative changes. Discussion: Pupils with previous risk factors for low engagement or different kinds of struggles in school were more likely to react negatively to the changes brought forth by the pandemic on several engagement outcomes compared to students with few or no risk factors. In the future, should disruptions of normal school routines be necessary, special attention should be given to planning proper support for at-risk students.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SCHOOL AND CLASS CLIMATE

Although there is no generally accepted definition of school climate and a single position on its dimensions, most authors agree that school climate is a multidimensional and complex construct, which refers to the quality and character of school life. Educational reforms that want to improve the quality of learning, but also improve the educational effect of the school, should not ignore that the school climate is one of the most researched school phenomena that affects the behavior and life of all participants in school life. In addition to the definition of school climate and other terms that conceptually overlap with school climate or other aspects of school life, it is necessary to define school climate and classroom climate. In contrast to school climate, classroom climate refers to social interactions in the classroom, student expectations for behavior, and school performance, but also to the physical characteristics of the classroom or the “intellectual, social, emotional, and physical environment in which students learn”. Classroom climate refers to the perception of the classroom environment, and school climate refers to the perception of the entire school. Classroom climate affects the perception of school climate as a more comprehensive phenomenon. The school climate’s perception depends on individual factors and the classroom climate. Teachers are the ones who represent one of the main factors in shaping students school experiences. A study conducted by Hallinan (2008) indicated that the teacher-student relationship predicts student commitment to school. Two special dimensions of that relationship are social and emotional support for students and teachers expectations of students. Students and teachers perceive the school climate more favorably when they feel safe and when aggression and victimization are not frequent. Students who feel safe at school are better adjusted, exhibit less delinquent and aggressive behavior, and report higher self-esteem. By improving the school climate, and especially the relationship between teachers and students, by establishing fair rules in the school and respecting diversity, the students behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement in school is affected, which further affects various areas of the student’s life, such as student well-being or and their academic achievement.

Child anger regulation measure: Psychometric properties, prediction of emotional engagement, and gender differences

AbstractThe objective of this study was to understand the psychometric functioning of the Child Anger Regulation Measure (CARM), its prediction of emotional engagement, and if the prediction of emotional engagement differs for girls and boys. The sample included 251 upper‐elementary school students in the United States (10% Black, 62% White, 6% Latinx, 5% Asian, 12% Multiethnic/Other; 58% female; average age = 9.7 years). Emotional engagement in school was reported by both students and teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated adequate fit of the data to the first‐order correlated theioretical model at two time points. Internal and test–retest reliability was moderate‐strong; the internal reliability of the anger withdraw strategy was weak for boys but adequate for girls. Of the five anger regulation latent predictors, the path analysis indicated that latent pause anger (i.e., waiting before responding to anger) was the strongest and sole predictor of how emotionally engaged a student felt in school, based on both student‐ and teacher‐reported engagement and controlling for other anger regulation (AR) strategies. There was partial measurement invariance across boys and girls, and there were no gender differences in AR prediction of emotional engagement. Implications for assessment, psychoeducation, and school contexts are discussed.

Effects of a homework implementation method (MITCA) on school engagement

MITCA (homework implementation method) was born with the purpose of turning homework into an educational resource capable of improving the self-regulation of learning and the school engagement of students. In this article, following the current theoretical framework, we evaluate the impact of the MITCA method on school engagement in students in the 5th and 6th years of Primary Education. While the control group of students who did not participate in the 12 weeks of MITCA (N = 431; 61% of 5th grade) worsened significantly in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement, these pre-post differences do not reach significance for the group that has participated in MITCA, even observing a tendency to improve. After the intervention, the students who participated in MITCA (N = 533; 50.6% of 5th grade) reported greater emotional and behavioral engagement than the students in the control group. MITCA students showed positive emotions, were happier in school and were more interested in the classroom, paid more attention in class, and were more attentive to school rules. The conditions of the tasks’ prescription proposed by MITCA would not only restrain the lack of engagement but would also improve students’ emotional and behavioral engagement in school found in the last years of Primary Education. In the light of the results, a series of educational strategies related to the characteristics of these tasks, such as the frequency of prescription and the type of correction are proposed.

The positive impact of bicultural identity on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral engagement: An exploratory analysis

This study investigates the impact of dual cultural backgrounds on student engagement in school, specifically focusing on minority students in China who are adapting to a new culture. It examines the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of student engagement, considering factors such as gender, socio-economic status (SES), and cultural knowledge and experiences. A survey was conducted among students in a Chinese secondary school, with participants completing it using traditional pen and paper. Regression analysis was performed on the collected data to determine the influence of bicultural identities on student engagement, while considering the effects of gender, SES, and cultural knowledge and experiences. The findings indicate that students with resilient bicultural identities show significantly higher levels of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral engagement in school compared to those with weaker bicultural identities. This highlights the importance of nurturing and supporting students' ethnic, national, and cultural identities to enhance their overall engagement and participation in education. The results underscore the significance of recognizing and embracing students' dual cultural backgrounds, creating an inclusive environment, and employing culturally relevant educational approaches. This research has implications for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders in promoting a culturally inclusive educational system. It emphasizes the need to acknowledge and assess students' diverse cultural backgrounds and suggests the benefits of incorporating culturally responsive pedagogy and support systems to enhance student engagement and academics success. By understanding the impact of bicultural identities on student engagement, educators can establish an environment that fosters support and empowerment, contributing to students' overall educational experiences and outcomes.

Impact of Stress on Later Academic Engagement Among Emergent Bilingual Students: Grit and Academic Support as Protective Factors

Despite evidence that academic engagement is necessary for academic success, limited research exists on the effects of stress on academic engagement for emergent bilingual students. The contribution of this short-term longitudinal study is the identification of individual and environmental socioemotional protective factors which may mitigate the impact of stress on later academic engagement among upper elementary emergent bilingual students at a Title I school (N = 142; 75% Latinx; 54% female). The present study tested teacher (TR) - and student-reported (SR) grit in addition to student-reported academic support (SR-peer and teacher support) as moderators of the impact of SR-perceived stress on later SR- and TR-academic engagement. Results indicated SR-peer support and SR-grit were significant moderators of the negative impact of stress on later TR-emotional engagement and SR-emotional engagement, respectively, when controlling for earlier engagement. The discussion addresses how schools can support emergent bilinguals’ stress and implement systems-level practices that may mitigate the effects of stress on academic engagement. Impact Statement Stress can disrupt student engagement and learning in school. For low-income, emergent bilingual elementary-aged students in the present study, stress had a negative relation with later emotional engagement in school. The negative relation of stress with engagement was mitigated by the protective factor of peer academic support, especially at high levels of stress. Student grit only mitigated the negative effect of stress on engagement at low levels of stress. It may be worth considering the promotion of peer academic support to counteract the negative effects of stress on low-income, emergent bilingual students.

Developmental trajectories of emotional school engagement from middle to late childhood in mainland China: contributions of early peer relationships and academic achievement

Developmental trajectories of emotional school engagement from middle to late childhood in mainland China: contributions of early peer relationships and academic achievement

Prosocial behavior and school engagement during adolescence: The mediating role of self-regulation

During adolescence, prosocial behavior is indicative of social well-being, cognitive self-regulation skills are increasingly effective, and school engagement concerningly declines. The current study investigated whether adolescents' cognitive self-regulation mediates the association between prosocial behavior toward peers and behavioral and emotional school engagement. Participants included 500 U.S. adolescents surveyed over four years (51.6% girls; 67.13% European American; T1 Mage = 12.34 years, T2 Mage = 14.29 years, T3 Mage = 16.30 years). Path analyses revealed adolescents' self-reported prosocial behavior at Time 1 positively predicted Time 2 cognitive self-regulation, and cognitive self-regulation positively predicted Time 3 behavioral and emotional school engagement. Significant indirect effects via cognitive self-regulation were found for the association between Time 1 prosocial behavior and Time 3 emotional school engagement among boys. Findings lend support to the notion that adolescents' self-regulation is an important intermediary between prosocial behavior and school engagement, at least for boys. Implications for future research and for adolescent-focused interventions are discussed.

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

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. 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. The sample consists of secondary school students (N=82; MAge =13.71; SD=0.67; 48% girls) from Germany. 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. 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. 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.

Individual characteristics of students in vocational education moderating the relationship between school engagement and vocational identity

In any country, there is a group of students who are at risk of dropping out of school without any qualifications. This is detrimental for many of those students, because failure to graduate increases risks of unemployment and societal exclusion. To reduce this risk, specialized curricula aim to prepare these students for their working life by fostering the development of a vocational identity, that is, how they define themselves as workers. As a prerequisite to achieving this goal, students need to attend school and feel engaged with school. The curricula seek ways to stimulate emotional school engagement, taking into account the heterogeneous target group of students they serve. To address potential consequences of individual differences, this questionnaire study (N=996) conducted in the Netherlands explored how various individual characteristics of students in these specialized curricula moderated the relationship between emotional school engagement and vocational identity. Results show that stronger school engagement always coincided with a stronger vocational identity; however, the strength of the relationship varied. Stimulating emotional school engagement was specifically important for the subgroups of students who are young, less agreeable, less motivated, and less resilient. In order to foster the vocational identity of their students, the specialized curricula are recommended to draw nuanced conclusions and formulate refined strategies to effectively respond to the heterogeneous group of students who are at risk of dropping out.

The Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Resilience Profiles on School Outcomes among Children in the Child Welfare System.

This study aimed to examine the association between early childhood resilience profiles and later school outcomes (academic achievement and school involvement) among children in the U.S. child welfare system. This study compared 827 children aged 3–5 years in three latent profile groups (poor emotional and behavioral resilience, low cognitive resilience, and multi-domain resilience) to their baseline profiles using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II). At the three-year follow-up, children with low emotional and behavioral resilience profiles and children with the multi-domain resilience profile had significantly higher basic reading skills, reading comprehension, and math reasoning compared to children with low scores on the cognitive resilience profile. Furthermore, children with the multi-domain resilience profile had significantly higher levels of emotional school engagement than did those with the low emotional and behavioral resilience profile and considerably higher levels of behavioral school engagement compared to those with the low cognitive resilience profile. The findings highlight the persistent effects of early resilience into the later childhood years. Moreover, our results suggest the need for early identification of and intervention for children with low cognitive or emotional/behavioral resilience during the preschool years to promote academic success and school engagement during the school-age years.

Validation and Reliability of the German Version of the School Burnout Inventory

Abstract. This study investigates the validity and reliability of the German version of the School Burnout Inventory (SBI-G) in 1,570 secondary-school students ( Mage = 14.11, SD = 0.78; 51.7 % girls). Results indicate that school burnout consists of two correlated but separate dimensions including (1) exhaustion at school, (2) cynicism toward the meaning of school and sense of inadequacy. The study revealed that school burnout can be measured as a two-factor model, which provided good reliability and validity indices. Further, we verified concurrent validity, finding that students suffering from general stress also reported overall school burnout as well as exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy. Students who exhibited cynicism and inadequacy also reported lower levels of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive school engagement, while exhausted students reported lower emotional school engagement but higher cognitive school engagement.

Development and Validation of the Digital Addiction Scale for Teenagers (DAST)

We present the development and validation of the Digital Addiction Scale for Teenagers (DAST), describing the pilot study ( N = 40 students) and main study ( N = 4493) with Estonian students aged 11–19, in spring 2020. Our aim was to create a scale suitable for psychoeducational assessment of teenagers’ behaviour and feelings towards digital devices. We used the mixed research framework . Half of the study sample was collected before the coronavirus crisis (Sample I: 1972 students) and the rest during a distance-learning period (Sample II: 2521 students). We found that factor structure in both subsamples were similar. The DAST shows a negative relationship with emotional school engagement and life satisfaction and positive correlations with school burnout, learning difficulties and screen time. We discuss potential uses of the scale for assessing health-related digital competences.

Bullying bystanders and emotional school engagement: The roles of rumination and depression

AbstractIt is important to understand the mechanisms behind student academic engagement, as engagement in school is associated with a host of positive outcomes. As children mature, their peers become more important compared to adults in regard to their emotional engagement in school. Thus, this study sought to examine an aspect of peer relations, bullying‐related behavior, and its associations with emotional engagement in school. Additionally, this study aimed to examine the potential mediating roles of depression and rumination in the association between bystander role behaviors and emotional school engagement. With a diathesis‐stress theoretical foundation, it was hypothesized that low emotional school engagement would result from a combination of witnessing bullying and experiencing rumination and/or depression symptoms. Bystander behavior has been studied significantly less compared to bully‐ and victim‐role behaviors, despite the significant role that bystanders can play in bullying scenarios. There is a gap in the literature regarding how bystanders' behaviors in bullying situations are associated with emotional engagement in school. Further, the role(s) of rumination and depression have not been studied within these associations. The current study utilized structural equation modeling as well as double mediation analyses to investigate the associations between bystander role behaviors (assisting, defending, and outsider behaviors) and emotional engagement in school and to determine if those associations are mediated by rumination and/or depression. From a sample of 847 middle school students (47.1% female), results suggested a significant indirect effect of rumination and depression on emotional school engagement for defending and outsider behaviors, but not assisting behaviors. Additional results and implications will be discussed.

The Impact of COVID-19-Induced Changes at Schools on Elementary Students' School Engagement.

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of schools in many countries. Emerging research documents the negative effects of the pandemic and particularly of the shutdown of schools on children's well-being. The present research extends this research by investigating how structural changes made in schools upon reopening to align with COVID-19 restrictions were related to children's emotional school engagement and subjective well-being. An online questionnaire with elementary school children and their parents conducted in Norway in June 2020 (N = 93 parent–child dyads; 46 boys, 47 girls; mean age children = 9.70 years, SD = 1.81) assessed structural changes in schools and children's coping with these changes, emotional school engagement, subjective well-being, self-reported performance in school, and demographics. Results showed that neither receiving a new teacher nor being assigned to a new (smaller) group were associated with negative outcomes. However, children who did not like their new group showed reduced emotional school engagement and subjective well-being, indicating that specific students particularly suffered from the pandemic-induced restrictions. The relationship between liking one's group and SWB was mediated by emotional school engagement. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed.

Associations of Classroom Design and Classroom-Based Physical Activity with Behavioral and Emotional Engagement among Primary School Students

Educational reforms worldwide have resulted in schools increasingly incorporating open and flexible classroom designs. Open learning spaces may contribute to a student’s behavioral and emotional school engagement directly and by facilitating classroom-based physical activity (CPA). We investigated the associations between accelerometer-assessed CPA and student ratings of task-focused behavior and attitude towards school as indicators for behavioral and emotional engagement, respectively, with the associations of gender, grade, and classroom design on CPA among 206 3rd and 5th grade students in open learning spaces and conventional classrooms. Structural equation modelling showed open classroom design to be directly associated with better attitude towards school (B = −0.336; CI95% −0.616 to −0.055), but not with task-focused behavior. The relationship between task-focused behavior and attitude towards school was statistically significant (B = 0.188; 95%CI 0.068 to 0.031). CPA was not associated with task-focused behavior and attitude towards school, while classroom design (B = 1.818; 95%CI 1.101 to 2.536), gender (B = 1.732; 95%CI 20 1.065 to 2.398), and grade (B = 1.560; 95%CI 0.893 to 2.227) were statistically significantly associated with CPA. Open learning spaces seem to be associated with better emotional engagement, which is associated with behavioral engagement. Longitudinal studies investigating associations of open learning spaces and CPA on students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement concurrently are warranted.

Disentangling the effects of perceived personal and group ethnic discrimination among secondary school students: The protective role of teacher-student relationship quality and school climate.

Guided by risk and resilience and attachment perspectives, the present study examined whether teacher-student relationship quality and school climate can buffer against the deleterious effects of perceived personal and group ethnic discrimination on psychological and academic domains. We conducted multilevel analyses of seventh graders (40 classrooms; N = 456; 47% female) with different cultural self-identifications in Germany. Partially confirming pre-registered hypotheses, results indicated that high levels of perceived personal discrimination were negatively associated with global self-esteem and emotional school engagement. Contrary to our expectations, neither perceived personal nor group discrimination negatively predicted academic self-concept. In addition, teacher-student relationship quality but not school climate buffered the relationship between both personal and group discrimination and global self-esteem and emotional school engagement such that the association was less negative when relationship quality was high. Taken together, our results underscore the importance of considering the different targets of discrimination (i.e., personal self and own group), and that positive teacher-student relationship can be especially beneficial and empowering for youth who are exposed to ethnic discrimination.

Maternal depressive symptoms and children's academic performance: sex differences in the mediating role of school experiences.

Maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) are negatively associated with children's academic performance, with stronger effects sometimes reported in boys. However, few studies have tested the mechanisms of this association. We examined the mediating role of school engagement and peer victimization in this association and tested for sex differences. Participants were 1173 families from a population-based longitudinal Canadian study. MDSs were self-reported annually using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (child's age: 5 months to 5 years). Data on mediators (peer victimization, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional school engagement) were reported annually from ages 6-10 by multiple informants including children, parents, and teachers using items from validated scales. Mathematics, reading, and writing exam scores at age 12 were obtained from standardized exams administered by Québec's Ministry of Education and Teaching. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation by school experiences in boys and girls. Exposure to MDSs was negatively associated with mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls and with mathematics only in boys. Cognitive and behavioral engagement significantly mediated the association between MDSs and mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls. There were no significant mediators for boys. Prevention and intervention strategies aiming to improve school engagement might be beneficial for daughters of mothers experiencing depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to identify the mechanisms explaining this association in boys.

In School for After School: The Relationship Between Extracurricular Participation and School Engagement

School engagement predicts academic achievement and attainment, yet remains under‐theorized in the sociological literature. While psychologists describe three distinct yet mutually reinforcing categories of school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement), sociologists have largely neglected to analyze cognitive engagement. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with members of two debate teams in Chicago Public Schools, I demonstrate that behavioral engagement in the form of debate team participation helped foster debaters' cognitive and emotional engagement in school. Through the activity, debaters developed strong relationships with peers and their adult coaches, and strengthened their appreciation for challenging aspects of the learning process. Although many debaters felt that the learning environment of the debate context was more stimulating than the learning environments of their classes, they nevertheless applied the skills and attitudes they acquired in the activity to the “core” curriculum of the school. These factors help explain why debaters have been shown to outperform comparable peers in terms of academic achievement and attainment. These findings suggest that cognitive engagement is one mechanism driving the positive impact of certain extracurricular activities on students' school performance.

Emotional School Engagement and Psychiatric Symptoms among 6\u20139-Year-old Children with an Immigrant Background in the First Years of School in Finland

The aim of this study is to examine emotional school engagement and psychiatric symptoms among 6–9-year-old children with an immigrant background (n = 148) in their first years of school compared to children with a Finnish native background (n = 2430). The analyzed data consisted of emotional school engagement measures completed by children and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires completed by both parents and teachers. Children with an immigrant background had lower self-reported emotional school engagement than children with a native background with reference to less courage to talk about their thoughts in the class and more often felt loneliness. Further, they reported that they had more often been bullies and seen bullying in the class. Children with an immigrant background had more emotional symptoms and peer problems reported by parents than children with a native background. However, teachers did not report any significant differences.