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Background: Very few studies have properly identified how peer victimization is associated with lower achievement in middle or high school. In this context, this study examined how peer victimization at the beginning of middle school is linked with subsequent student achievement. Specifically, it assessed if the behavioral, affective, and cognitive dimensions of engagement in school play a mediation role in the relationship between peer victimization and student achievement. Methods: The sample of this study included 683 seventh graders attending 3 schools in Montreal, Canada. Students self-reported peer victimization at the beginning and end of grade 7. They also reported their levels of student engagement on the 3 dimensions (behavioral, affective, and cognitive) across 3 time points in seventh and eighth grades. Student achievement in language arts across these 2 years was also obtained through school records. Results: Peer victimization significantly predicted lower achievement over time (b = -0.24, p [less than or equal to] 0.001). Peer victimization predicted lower achievement in grade 8 indirectly through affective student engagement (b = -0.11, p < 0.05). Post hoc analyses showed that peer victimization still predicted lower achievement in grade 8 indirectly through a decrease in affective engagement (b = -0.14, p < 0.05). However, when considered alone, a decrease in cognitive engagement also acted as a mediator (b = -0.09, p < 0.05), suggesting a strong link with affective engagement. Conclusion: Our findings expose the importance to promote student engagement in school and achievement for victimized youth.

Studies highlighting the importance of parental involvement in schooling have multiplied over the past years. However, well-validated tools assessing the different dimensions of parental involvement are lacking, especially when addressing young students' perception of their parents' involvement. This study offers a preliminary validation of the Student-Rated Parental School Involvement Questionnaire (SR-PSIQ); factor structure, measurement invariance, and predictive validity were assessed. Data collected on four measurement occasions from 923 French-Canadian primary school students was used. Results favored a four-factor model (parental expectations, parent--child communication, homework supervision, and school-based involvement). The SR-PSIQ was invariant across time, student gender, parental immigration status, and socioeconomic status. Regarding predictive validity, all dimensions of parental involvement were associated with later student engagement. Overall, the SR-PSIQ is a brief, valid, and reliable instrument that can easily be used by researchers or partitioners who want to understand how parents are involved in their child's schooling.

Among the concerns about youth wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, one well-documented impact is youth motivation, particularly in relation to schooling. Yet many questions remain: "How" are youth experiencing motivation? What factors affect their motivation? How are youth differentially experiencing motivation? This article addresses young people's experiences of motivation during the first wave of the pandemic as explored through participatory visual research. In Spring 2020, the Quebec private and public secondary school systems responded very differently to school closures. Private schools pivoted to distance learning within about two weeks, whereas public schools took almost two months to provide formal instruction. Bringing youth's accounts of motivation into conversation with youth's concerns about the inequities across the private and public school systems offers a rich opportunity to revisit Self-Determination Theory as an established theory of motivation. Youth's analyses urge us to revisit the conceptualization of "structure" within this theory and how structure might offer a junction for accounting for more macrostructural inequalities within motivation research.

Adolescents with positive attitudes towards the legal authorities are unlikely to adopt delinquent behaviours. To examine the role school can play in shaping such attitudes, we questioned 465 middle school students to assess how their emotional relationships with teachers (teachers' compassionate love, teachers' esteem) relate to their attitudes towards authority (trust in the justice system, positive evaluation of the law). We also assessed whether these associations were mediated by school belonging. Results showed that teachers' compassionate love and teachers' esteem were (respectively) directly and indirectly linked to students' attitudes towards authority. In both cases, school belonging acted as either a partial or a total mediator. This is consistent with the group engagement model and suggests that students' attitudes towards legal authorities are linked to their affective relationships with teachers, partly because their positive perceptions of teacher-student relationships strengthen their feelings of school membership.

Background: Classroom engagement is key predictor of child academic success. Aim: The objective of the study was to examine how preschool cognitive control and the experience of family adversity predict developmental trajectories of classroom engagement through elementary school. Setting: Children were followed in the context of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development from birth to age 10.5 (N = 1589). Methods: Working memory was directly assessed when children were 3 years old and mothers reported child impulsivity, parenting characteristics, stress and social support when children were 4 years old. Elementary school teachers rated classroom engagement from kindergarten through Grade 4. Results: Growth mixture modelling identified three distinct trajectories of classroom engagement. Child working memory and impulsivity, and maternal hostility, social support and stress predicted greater odds of belonging to the low versus high engagement trajectory. Child impulsivity and maternal hostility and stress also distinguished between the low and moderate engagement trajectories. Conclusion: Our results suggest that targeting preschool cognitive control and buffering the effects of family adversity on children may facilitate academic success.

Encouraging involvement in school-based extracurricular activities (ECA) may be important for preventing high school dropout. However, the potential of these activities remains underexploited, perhaps because studies linking ECA involvement and dropout are rare and based on decades-old data. Previous studies also ignore key parameters of student involvement. The present study expands and updates this limited literature by using recent data from a high-risk Canadian sample (N = 545) and by considering a range of involvement parameters. Results showed that consistent involvement in the past year was associated with lower odds of dropout (OR = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.17-0.61). However, adolescents who interrupted their involvement during this period (e.g., because of cancelations or exclusions) were as much at risk of dropout as those who were not involved at all. Findings notably imply that excluding students from ECA (e.g., because of No Pass/No Play policies) may heighten their dropout risk.

This article develops and validates the Positive and Negative Adolescent Life Experiences (PANALE) scale, a 11-item tool that enables researchers to measure adolescent stressors in a more valid and efficient manner than existing adolescent stressors scales. The PANALE presents good psychometric qualities, in terms of construct validity (factorial structure, measurement invariance, and composite reliability) and concurrent validity with regard to eustress and distress symptoms in a French sample of high school adolescents (N = 1513). Overall, the PANALE provides a viable alternative to existing methods for conducting quantitative research on adolescent stress processes, notably those related to school disengagement and dropout processes.

Social contagion theories suggest that adolescents in relationships with same-age high school dropouts should be at a greater risk of dropping out themselves. Yet, few studies have examined this premise, and none have considered all potentially influential same-age intimates, focusing instead on only either friends or siblings. Moreover, a key influence in adolescents' social worlds, romantic partners, has been ignored. The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive view of dropout contagion by considering occurrences of dropout among friends, siblings, and romantic partners. Data came from a sample of Canadian adolescents (N = 545) comprising one third of high school dropouts; a second third of carefully matched at-risk but persevering schoolmates; and a last third of average, not-at-risk students. As predicted, adolescents were at greater risk of dropping out when a member of their network had recently left school (i.e., in the past year, OR = 3.11; 95% CI [1.78, 6.27]), with independent associations of nontrivial sizes for occurrences of dropout among friends, romantic partners, and siblings (ORs between 1.97 [95% CI 1.25, 3.41] and 3.12 [95% CI 1.23, 11.0]). Moreover, adolescents seemed particularly at risk of quitting school (OR = 4.88; 95% CI [2.54, 12.5]) when their networks included more than one type of same-age intimate (e.g., a friend "and" a sibling) who had recently dropped out. Findings suggest that social contagion of dropout is a pervasive phenomenon in low-income schools and that prevention programs should target adolescents with same-age intimates who have recently left school.

The population of Canadian schools is becoming increasingly diverse in ethnic origins. Despite the challenges they face, paradox immigrant theory suggests that immigrant students have a more favorable profile than their non-immigrant peers in terms of academic success. The aim of this longitudinal study which was conducted with 66 elementary school teachers (providing information regarding 626 students from five schools located in disadvantaged areas of Montreal (Quebec, Canada) is to (1) validate whether the immigrant paradox manifests itself among elementary school children, in terms of their behavioral and social adjustment in the classroom and their educational success; and (2) study the extent to which these outcomes are associated with their educational success, differentiating whether they are first-, second-, or third-generation. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) (obj. 1) and a path analysis (obj. 2) were performed. Results show that first- and second-generation students had similar levels of hyperactivity-inattention, peer relationship difficulties, and behavioral engagement, but were advantaged in these variables as compared to their non-immigrant peers. However, none of the individual paths was significantly different among the immigration statuses. Thus, risk factors for school difficulties may not depend on the generation status of the student.

This study investigates the nexus between teacher exposure to student aggression, their level of emotional exhaustion, and the role of belongingness and perceived school safety as mediators. Random-Intercept Cross-Lag Panel Models were conducted among a sample of 2,072 secondary teachers (57.14% female) from grades 7 to 11 in 77 schools. Chronic levels of exposure to globally high levels of student aggression and specific high levels of direct victimization were associated with increased levels of emotional exhaustion. These associations were fully mediated by teacher perceptions of school belongingness and safety. Temporary fluctuations in witnessing student-to-student aggression led to increased emotional exhaustion via decreased perceptions of safety. Specific levels of witnessing student-to-teacher aggression were not linked with exhaustion over time beyond global levels of exposure to student aggression. The chronicity of exposure to different forms of student aggression is a risk factor for emotional exhaustion among teachers.

This paper describes the nature of home-school value discrepancies perceived by students, and tests associations between such value discrepancies and teacher-student relationships with student generational status as a moderator. Using a sample of 1,551 students from grades 10 and 11, chi-square tests and ANOVAs were used to describe the nature of discrepancies, while hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to test associations. Second-generation students generally perceived more differences between family-school values. When experiencing less value discrepancies, students reported closer teacher-student relationships. Value discrepancies were also associated with conflict, third-plus-generation standing out. Practitioners should mitigate value discrepancies to improve teacher-student relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Connell and Wellborn's Self-System Model of Motivational Development (SSMMD; Self processes and development, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, pp 43-77, 1991), school engagement is fostered by students' perception that their needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness are fulfilled. The universal claim of this model has rarely been tested across groups of students with diverse immigration backgrounds, socioeconomic status, or emotional problems such as anxiety. To fill this gap, we conducted a longitudinal study to examine the associations between, on the one hand, student self-perceptions of competence in mathematics, of autonomy and of relatedness, and on the other hand, their behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement. We further tested whether immigration status and anxiety moderated these associations. The study involved 170 elementary school students from disadvantaged multiethnic schools. Results demonstrated that high relatedness was associated with affective engagement in all students. Furthermore, the links between students' engagement and their self-perceptions of autonomy and competence in mathematics varied according to their immigration status and anxiety level. For instance, most of the results showed that immigrant students presenting a high level of anxiety reported being more engaged than other students when they felt autonomous. Finally, the results showed that self-perceptions were not associated with all dimensions of school engagement in all students. These findings challenge the universality of the SSMMD and provide new evidence supporting the necessity of adapting interventions to fulfill psychological needs and promote engagement among vulnerable students.

Providing high-quality teaching practices is central to promote student engagement in school. High quality teaching is even more important in schools located in low socioeconomic neighborhoods, where a larger proportion of children present more important academic difficulties and lower classroom behavioural, affective, and cognitive engagement. The Self-System Model of Motivational Development posits that learner engagement is favored when teachers structure classroom activity, are involved with students, and support their autonomy. How these dimensions interact to create effective classroom contexts that foster student engagement remains less documented. The goal of the present study was to test additive and combined (interactive) multilevel longitudinal associations between teacher structure, autonomy-support, and involvement on students behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement across one school year. Based on a sample of 696 low SES elementary school students, results of our path analysis revealed that teacher involvement and autonomy-support contributed to various dimensions of classroom engagement. Besides, structure was not directly to this outcome. Yet, a combined use of autonomy-support and structure or autonomy-support and involvement was associated with higher behavioral engagement among low-SES children. These results suggest that teacher practices cannot be interpreted in isolation as they add up and interact to contribute to elementary school student academic experience.

This study describes policies and practices implemented in 12 high schools (Quebec, Canada) that more or less effectively leveraged extracurricular activities (ECA) to prevent dropout among vulnerable students. Following an explanatory sequential mixed design, three school profiles ("Effective," "Ineffective," and "Mixed") were derived based on quantitative student-reported data. Qualitative interviews with frontline staff revealed that in "Effective" schools, ECA had a unique overarching goal: to support school engagement and perseverance among all students, including vulnerable ones. Moreover, in these schools staff had access to sufficient resources--human and material--and implemented inclusive practices. In "Ineffective" schools, ECA were used as a means to attract well-functioning students from middle-class families, and substantial resources were channeled toward these students, with few efforts to include vulnerable ones. Schools with a "Mixed" profile had both strengths and weakness. Recommendations for school-level policies that bolster ECA's ability to support students' perseverance are provided.

This study examined whether recent disruptive events would increase the likelihood of high school dropout among both rural and urban youths, and whether the types of disruptive events preceding dropout would be different in rural vs. urban environments. Based on interviews conducted with early school leavers and matched at-risk schoolmates (N = 366) in 12 disadvantaged Canadian high schools, recent disruptive events appeared to generally trigger dropout. However, the prevalence of some types of events associated with dropout varies according to the environment. In agreement with social disorganization and formal/informal social control models, crises involving child welfare services or the juvenile justice system (e.g., an arrest after a fight) represented a lower share of triggering events among rural than urban leavers (8% vs. 26%, respectively), whereas those involving peer conflicts and rejection (e.g., exclusion from one's peer group) were over represented among rural compared to urban leavers (26% vs. 10%, respectively). These differences are thought to represent upsides and downsides associated with the relative density, stability, and overlapping nature of rural adolescents' social networks. Practical implications are discussed, notably regarding the relevance and contextual adaptation of prevention programs as a function of place.

The increasing cultural diversity in host society schools highlights the need to better understand the conditions supporting the integration of students with an immigrant background. This study examines whether peer acceptance enhances the association between student-teacher relationship closeness and classroom emotional engagement, and whether this association is moderated by student immigrant status. This study followed 251 fifth- and sixth-grade first- (34.3%), second- (49.4%), or third-generation-plus (16.3%) students across two school years (46.6% boys). Measures included child-reported classroom emotional engagement, student-teacher relationships, peer acceptance, and immigrant status. Using a hierarchical multiple linear regression model, this study demonstrates that positive relationships with teachers represent a protective factor for classroom emotional engagement among students who do not feel accepted by classmates, but only for first-generation students (b =.46, p <.001). Our results underscore the importance of developing intervention strategies for building student-teacher relationships to benefit the classroom integration of first-generation students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's adolescents will inevitably face the negative effects of climate change and will need to engage in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) as part of the solutions. The primary objective of this scoping review was to identify the individual, peer and family, and school and community predictors of PEB in adolescence. The secondary objectives were to highlight the main types of PEBs, the main conceptual frameworks examined in adolescence, and the main research gaps mentioned in prior studies. A bibliographic search on multiple databases was conducted. Among the 2578 records identified, 209 were retrieved and assessed for eligibility, and 62 met the inclusion criteria (i.e., peer-reviewed primary research articles published in English in the last ten years with adolescent data). Results reveal a heterogeneous set of correlates with an imbalance favoring individual correlates. The most frequent PEBs in the reviewed studies were linked to energy and water conservation. The most frequent theoretical frameworks were the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value–Belief–Norm Theory, while the most frequently highlighted research gap was the use of cross-sectional designs. These results can inform the targets of interventions aimed at increasing PEBs, which are fundamental aspects of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the influence of student-teacher relationships on children's anxiety and its differential association according to children's sex and academic achievement. The sample included 350 third- and fourth-grade students and their elementary school teachers. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated that student-teacher conflict at the beginning of the school year was associated with higher anxiety in students at the end of the year. The influence of conflict with teachers also varied for boys and girls, according to their academic achievement. Indeed, high-achieving girls reporting conflict with teachers presented more anxiety compared with boys and their low-achieving peers. This study highlights the influence of teachers on student anxiety, and brings attention to high-achieving girls, a group rarely considered at risk.

Adolescents who drop out of high school experience enduring negative consequences across many domains. Yet, the circumstances triggering their departure are poorly understood. This study examined the precipitating role of recent psychosocial stressors by comparing three groups of Canadian high school students (52% boys; M[subscript age] = 16.3 years; N = 545): recent dropouts, matched at-risk students who remain in school, and average students. Results indicate that in comparison with the two other groups, dropouts were over three times more likely to have experienced recent acute stressors rated as severe by independent coders. These stressors occurred across a variety of domains. Considering the circumstances in which youth decide to drop out has implications for future research and for policy and practice.