The purpose of this study is to identify the patterns of school adaptation transition among adolescents who experienced both the COVID-19 pandemic and a school level transition, and to longitudinally examine the factors influencing this transition. To this end, latent transition analysis was conducted using data from the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey for 2018 (first year of middle school), 2020 (third year of middle school), and 2022 (second year of high school). The study found that, first, school adaptation profiles were identified as four types in the first year of middle school (teacher relationship-centered maladjustment, maladjustment, low adaptation, high adaptation), three types in the third year of middle school (maladjustment, low adaptation, high adaptation), and four types in the second year of high school (academic-centered maladjustment, maladjustment, low adaptation, high adaptation). Second, the transfer patterns of adolescent school adaptation were represented by three models, and 12 representative transition types were derived. Third, individual and school characteristics, parents' affectionate and autonomous parenting attitudes, and academic apathy were confirmed to influence school adaptation transfers during the first, third, and second years. This study is significant as it provides basic data on school adaptation by clarifying the developmental processes through which transitional adolescents either adapt to or become maladjusted in school.
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