Parenting correlates of changes in school engagement among racial/ethnic minority students

Abstract The present study examined the extent to which parent-adolescent relationship quality and parenting practices were associated with changes in school engagement among racial and ethnic minority adolescents. Participants (58% female) were 208 racial/ethnic minority students (63% African American, 19% Latinx, 18% Multiracial) in grades 6–8 from an urban middle school in the Midwestern United States. In the fall (Time 1) and subsequent spring (Time 2) of the school year, youth completed in-school surveys with items on parent-adolescent warmth, conflict, parental knowledge, academic socialization, and school engagement (commitment to learning, school trouble, school bonding, school self-esteem). Results from residualized change models revealed that parental knowledge was a salient and consistent predictor of changes in school engagement. These results suggest that parents’ awareness or understanding of adolescents’ daily lives and activities is key to supporting school engagement during early adolescence. Parental knowledge of adolescents’ daily lives can foster a more collaborative relationship between home and school, which can boost adolescents’ engagement in school.