Teacher-student relationships and adolescents' school satisfaction

Behavioural engagement as a mechanism of change

Bibliographic Data

ID5264016
AuthorsXu Jiang (0000-0001-7324-7125, Department of Psychological Studies in Education Temple University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA, corresponding author), Dexin Shi (0000-0002-4120-6756, Department of Psychology University of South Carolina Columbia South Carolina USA, corresponding author), Lue Fang (0000-0002-1646-8949, Asia Research Institute National University of Singapore Singapore City Singapore, corresponding author), Raul C Ferraz (0000-0002-6292-6111, University of South Carolina, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume92
Issue4
Pages1444-1457
Publication date2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Educational Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0998 • E-ISSN: 2044-8279
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bjep.12509
PMID35535913
OpenAlexW4280615879
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited71

BackgroundTeacher-student relationships have been linked to various aspects of students' school functioning, including social-emotional well-being in school, but the underlying mechanisms need more investigation.AimsIn this study, we analysed longitudinal data to test if students' classroom behavioural engagement was a potential mechanism of change that explained how teacher-student relationships affect student school satisfaction.SampleWe used an archival dataset with a sample of seventh graders (ages 11-14, Mage = 12.7 year) in a middle school in the Southeastern United States.MethodsAdolescents completed self-report surveys across three waves over the course of 18 months.ResultsLongitudinal structural equation modelling analyses revealed that teacher-student relationships were positively associated with positive classroom engagement behaviours and school satisfaction, respectively, at each time, and positive classroom behaviours at Time 2 fully mediated the longitudinal association between teacher-student relationships (Time 1) and school satisfaction (Time 3).ConclusionsTaken together, results suggested that fostering positive teacher-student relationships to increase students' positive classroom behaviours could be an effective pathway to promote students' satisfaction with school. The applications of the results in educators' and psychologists' work, such as consultation and trainings with teachers, are discussed

Affect (linguistics) · Association (psychology) · Developmental psychology · Longitudinal study · Mathematics education · Mechanism (biology) · Sample (material) · Structural equation modeling · Student engagement · Test (biology) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Parental Involvement in Education · Psychology

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