The Effects of Student-Athletes’Perceptions of Academic Support on Academic Engagement and Academic Achievement: A Multi-Group Analysis by Sport Type

This study aimed to examine the relationships among student-athletes’ perceptions of academic support, academic engagement, and academic achievement, and to analyze path differences according to sport type (individual vs. team events). The participants were university student-athletes registered with the Korea Sports & Olympic Committee, and a total of 316 valid responses were used for the final analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0, and frequency analysis, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and multi-group analysis were conducted. The results were as follows. First, perceived academic support had a positive effect on academic engagement. Second, academic engagement positively influenced academic achievement. Third, perceived academic support also had a positive effect on academic achievement. Fourth, academic engagement significantly mediated the relationship between perceived academic support and academic achievement. Finally, the multi-group analysis revealed a significant difference in the path between perceived academic support and academic achievement according to sport type, whereas no significant differences were found in the paths between perceived academic support and academic engagement, or between academic engagement and academic achievement.