Externalizing behaviors and student engagement: Exploring the protective role of parental involvement in school using latent moderated structural equation modeling

Students presenting externalizing behaviors often exhibit reduced levels of student engagement, posing academic and well-being challenges. Among potential protective factors, the role of parental involvement in school is relatively unexplored. The objective of this study was to examine whether parental involvement could mitigate lower levels of engagement among these students. Data were collected from 742 Canadian elementary students at the beginning and the end of the school year. Latent moderated structural equation modeling was employed to assess the moderating role of four dimensions of parental involvement (i.e., expectations, communication, homework support, and school-based involvement) on behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement. Results indicated that externalizing behaviors were negatively associated with behavioral engagement only when parental expectations were low (b = −0.394, p = .035) and with cognitive engagement only when homework support was low (b = −0.383, p < .001). These findings suggest the importance of promoting parental involvement, especially among students who exhibit high levels of externalizing behaviors.