NCJ Number
242721
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2013 Pages: 20-32
Date Published
January 2013
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the interrelationships of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of school engagement over 3 years in adolescence (Grades 9-11).
Abstract
School engagement, or the extent to which students are involved in, attached and committed to the academic and social activities in school, plays a prominent role in preventing academic failure, promoting competence, and influencing a wide range of adolescent outcomes. Although the multidimensional nature of school engagement is well-recognized, how the three purported parts of the construct work together is largely unknown. By using data from the longitudinal, 4-H study of Positive Youth Development, involving a sample of 1,029 adolescents (67.7 percent female; mean age at Grade 9 = 14.92 years; 74.4 percent of participants were European American, 5.2 percent were Latino/a, 7.3 percent were African-American), the current study examined the interrelationships of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of school engagement over 3 years in adolescence (Grades 9-11). The authors used autoregressive lagged effects models to assess the relationships among the three engagement constructs. Results indicated that behavioral and emotional engagement was related bidirectionally (each variable was a basis and an outcome of the other). In addition, behavioral engagement influenced cognitive engagement (but the reverse of this relation was not found). Implications for future research are discussed. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.