School Climate and Academic Resilience: The Mediating Role of Teacher–Student Relationship Quality

Objective: This study aimed to examine the mediating role of teacher–student relationship quality in the relationship between school climate and academic resilience among Egyptian high school students. Methods and Materials: A descriptive correlational design was employed involving 360 high school students from Egypt, selected based on Krejcie and Morgan’s sample size table. Standardized self-report questionnaires were used to measure perceived school climate, teacher–student relationship quality, and academic resilience. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27, while Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed in AMOS version 21 to test the hypothesized mediating model. Model fit indices, as well as total, direct, and indirect path coefficients, were calculated to assess the validity of the proposed relationships among variables. Findings: The results indicated that school climate was significantly associated with academic resilience (r = .53, p < .001), and with teacher–student relationship quality (r = .61, p < .001), which in turn was significantly correlated with academic resilience (r = .66, p < .001). SEM results showed a good model fit (χ²/df = 1.97, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.052), with school climate having a significant direct effect on both teacher–student relationship quality (β = 0.61) and academic resilience (β = 0.22). Importantly, teacher–student relationship quality significantly mediated the effect of school climate on academic resilience, with an indirect effect of β = 0.34 and a total effect of β = 0.56. Conclusion: The findings highlight the crucial role of relational dynamics in translating institutional support into student psychological strengths. Interventions aimed at improving school climate should also prioritize strengthening teacher–student relationships to effectively enhance academic resilience in adolescents.