School attachment and relatedness with parents, friends and teachers as predictors of students’ intrinsic and identified regulation

This longitudinal study examined the role of school attachment and three sources of relatedness (friends, parents, teachers) in predicting students’ intrinsic and identified regulation. A total of 946 high school students from disadvantaged neighborhoods completed self-report measures. Results of a CFA provided support for the distinctiveness of the sources of relatedness and school attachment. Results of SEM revealed that school attachment predicted intrinsic regulation, whereas relatedness to teachers predicted identified regulation. Relatedness to parents and friends did not explain a significant percentage of the variance in outcomes. All results were obtained while controlling for initial levels of the outcomes. In sum, students with low levels of intrinsic and identified regulation for learning activities may benefit from practices designed to increase school attachment and relatedness with their teachers.