Longitudinal effects of school connectedness on adolescents’ academic engagement: Mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction and the examination of gender differences in the mediation model

Abstract

Exploring the factors influencing adolescents’ academic engagement and identifying strategies to enhance it remain one of the crucial issues in psychological research. Guided by ecological and developmental frameworks, this study conducted a longitudinal design (with a six-month interval) involving 1,217 adolescents, aiming to explore the effects of school connectedness on adolescents’ academic engagement, along with the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction and the examination of gender differences in the mediation model. Firstly, the results found that classmate connectedness and school belonging could significantly positively predict academic engagement, whereas teacher connectedness was not significant. Secondly, mediation model analysis showed that classmate connectedness and school belonging could indirectly affect academic engagement by satisfying adolescents’ autonomy, relatedness, and competence needs; the mediating effects in the relationship between teacher connectedness and basic psychological needs satisfaction were not significant. Moreover, gender differences were revealed in mediation model. Specifically, for boys, predominantly classmate connectedness influenced their academic engagement by satisfying their psychological needs; for girls, predominantly school belonging influenced their academic engagement by satisfying their psychological needs. This study deepens the understanding of adolescents’ academic engagement and enriches the theoretical and empirical discussions, providing practical guidance for promoting adolescents’ academic engagement.