The Relationships between Family, School and Community Support and Boundaries and Student Engagement among Chinese Adolescents

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between social support and boundaries from family, school and community and student engagement among Chinese adolescents. Participants were 577 adolescents (53.5% boys) from Shanghai who provided data on student engagement, environmental support and boundaries from family, school and community. Results showed that family, school and community support and boundaries were positively related to two dimensions of student engagement (i.e., behavioral and affective). Several interaction terms were also observed. Specifically, school support strengthened the relationship between community support and behavioral engagement, and family support and affective engagement; school boundary strengthened the relationship between family boundary and affective engagement. Practical implications for the contributions of support and boundaries from family, school and community on student engagement are discussed.