The Impact of Teacher-student Relationship Closeness on Junior High School Students’ Academic Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Model

To explore the relationship between teacher-student relationship closeness and academic engagement among junior high school students, as well as the mediating role of positive academic emotions and the moderating role of parental support, this study administered a questionnaire survey to 857 junior high school students. The instruments included the Academic Engagement Scale, the Closeness dimension of the Teacher-Student Daily Interaction Questionnaire, two dimensions of Positive Academic Emotions from the Academic Emotion Scale, and the Parental Support Questionnaire. The results showed that teacher-student relationship closeness significantly and positively predicted students’ academic engagement. Both the high-arousal and low-arousal dimensions of positive academic emotions partially mediated the relationship between teacher-student closeness and academic engagement. Moreover, parental support moderated the relationship between teacher-student closeness and high-arousal positive academic emotions: when parental support was low, teacher-student closeness more strongly and positively predicted high-arousal positive academic emotions compared to when parental support was high.