Social Support and Academic Engagement Among Reconnected Youth: Adverse Life Experiences as a Moderator

Abstract

Using motivational theories of engagement and adopting a multidimensional perspective of academic engagement, the authors investigate the associations among teacher and parent support, students' academic self-efficacy, and academic engagement among a sample of reconnected youth who have returned to academic pursuit after dropping out (N = 938, mean age = 16.50, SD = 1.78). In addition, they examine how youth's adverse life experiences moderate the pathways in this model, an analysis notably missing from much of the academic engagement literature. They find that students' academic self-efficacy mediates parent and teacher support and youth academic engagement. Moreover, participants' adverse life experiences moderate the connections among perceived support from parents, academic self-efficacy, and academic engagement. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.

Back to School: Pathways for Reengagement of Out-of-School Youth in Education

“…Relative to parent support, teacher support had a stronger effect on academic self-efficacy and emotional and cognitive engagement. Another key finding was that parental support positively predicted academic self-efficacy and engagement for students with lower risk levels, but associations were not significant for those with high levels of risks (>5) (Pan, Zaff, and Donlan 2017). Thus, teacher support appears to play an important and active role among high-risk youth, though the role of parental support must be contextually examined and cannot be undermined.…”

“…While empirical evidence on the association between social supports, selfefficacy, and educational engagement has been studied widely in traditional education settings, there is relatively limited evidence available for re-engaged youth facing severe levels of adversity. One recent study by Pan, Zaff and Donlan (2017) has investigated the associations among teacher and parent supports, student academic self-efficacy and education engagement for a sample of 938 reconnected youth 1 in the United States who returned to academics after dropping out, using the multidimensional construct of education engagement. It also examined how youths' adverse life experiences moderated their pathways and outcomes.…”

Leveraging Relational Metaphors: An Analysis of Non-Parental Adult Roles in Response to Youth Needs

“…Neighborhood context has been used to define groups of youth as at risk for delinquency, with studies focusing on adult prosocial investment and adult supervision of youth as mitigating factors (Leech, 2016). Research with “reconnected youth,” who leave high school before graduating and then return to school for a high school diploma or the equivalent, has identified that parent and teacher support can promote youth engagement, mediated by youth academic self-efficacy (Pan, Zaff, & Donlan, 2017). These findings with reconnected youth make room for youth agency by showing the interplay between adult support and young people’s own psychology.…”

Longitudinal development of adolescent academic engagement following the Wenchuan earthquake: Domain-specific trajectories

“…Academic engagement is an important aspect of academic and learning activities that has attracted the attention of a growing number of researchers (e.g. Font & Maguire-Jack, 2013; Kagei, Takashima, Sakata, & Yamada, 2013; Pan, Zaff, & Donlan, 2017). Academic engagement refers to a sense of belongingness and perceived worth of schooling, as well as positive participation in the school curriculum and other school activities (e.g.…”

“…Social support is one of the most important social factors predicting academic engagement (e.g. Pan et al., 2017; Quin, Heerde, & Toumbourou, 2018; Xerri, Radford, & Shacklock, 2018). The expanded social-cognitive processing model (Lepore & Kernan, 2003) suggests that a supportive environment encourages greater disclosure of feelings and ideas and provides positive feedback for adolescents, which may increase their motivation to participate in learning activities and to engage in learning behaviors (e.g.…”