Positive Family Environment, General Distress, Subjective Well-Being, and Academic Engagement among High School Students Before and During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the family dynamics of most people worldwide as well as the mode in which students take classes. The impact of such changes on students’ well-being, academic engagement, and general distress remains unknown. Therefore, this study aims to test the structural relations among positive family environment (a measure of Positive Home-Based Parent Involvement [HBI]), subjective well-being (SWB), general distress, and academic engagement, focusing on Mexican high school students. A longitudinal study was conducted covering two time points: before (T1) and during (T2) the COVID-19 outbreak. A sample of 502 students answered questionnaires in T1 whereas 111 did so in T2. Analyses were conducted using Mplus software. Principal results showed that the positive and significant association between positive family environment and SWB did not substantially change from T1 to T2, whereas the relation between positive family environment and academic engagement became stronger. Data revealed that a positive family environment can play an important role in promoting academic engagement among adolescent students despite the risks brought about by sanitary lockdowns and the increase of family interactions. Results are discussed highlighting the importance of positive family environments and HBI on academic outcomes for Mexican high school students.

Correlation between students perceived parental expectations and students academic engagement: The intermediary effect of academic self-efficacy

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Protective factors in schools after the COVID‐19 pandemic: Views of school counselors

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected education as well as other fields (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022).…”

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic has seriously affected education as well as other fields (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022). Following the first coronavirus case in Turkey on March 12, 2020, distance education was started on March 13, 2020.…”

Teaching away from school: do school digital support influence teachers’ well-being during Covid-19 emergency?

“…Recent research has demonstrated the negative impact that school closure had on student performance (Engzell et al, 2021 ; Maldonado & De Witte, 2022 ) as well as on student well-being (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022 ; Vira & Skoog, 2021 ). During the weeks of school closure, the role of families in supporting student remote schooling increased significantly (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022 ), although the most prominent role has been played by teachers (Choi et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Recent research has demonstrated the negative impact that school closure had on student performance (Engzell et al, 2021 ; Maldonado & De Witte, 2022 ) as well as on student well-being (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022 ; Vira & Skoog, 2021 ). During the weeks of school closure, the role of families in supporting student remote schooling increased significantly (Gaxiola Romero et al, 2022 ), although the most prominent role has been played by teachers (Choi et al, 2021 ). Given that previous research stressed the link between teachers’ well-being and core measures like teaching effectiveness and student outcomes (Hascher & Waber, 2021 ), it is worth to investigate which factors are related to teachers’ well-being in the context of an Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) (Portillo et al, 2020 ) like the one created by the Covid-19 crisis.…”