The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed.

The present study analyzes the impact of parenting styles on adolescents’ self-esteem and internalization of social values in three countries, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. The sample of the study was comprised of 2091 adolescents from Spain (n = 793), Portugal (n = 675), and Brazil (n = 623) from 12–18 years old (52.1% females). The four types of parenting styles, authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian and neglectful, were measured through the warmth and strictness dimensions of the Scale of Parental Socialization ESPA29. The two criteria variables were captured with the five dimensions of the AF5, Five-Factor Self-Concept Questionnaire, and with self-transcendence and conservation Schwartz values. Results confirm emergent research in parenting socialization: the use of parental warmth is evidenced as key for adolescent self-esteem and internalization of social values in the three countries analyzed. Indulgent and authoritative parenting (both characterized by parental warmth) are associated with the highest value internalization in the three countries. Furthermore, indulgent parenting (use of warmth) is associated with the highest adolescent self-esteem, overcoming authoritative parenting (use of warmth and strictness). The influence of parenting over adolescent self-esteem and values internalization is maintained independent of the differences in self-esteem and value priorities observed in the cultural context, the sex and age of the participants.

Background: A comprehensive understanding of the contextual factors that are linked to student engagement requires research that includes cross‐cultural perspectives. Aims: This study investigated how student engagement in school is associated with grade, gender, and contextual factors across 12 countries. It also investigated whether these associations vary across countries with different levels of individualism and socio‐economic development. Samples: The participants were 3,420 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Methods: The participants completed a questionnaire to report their engagement in school, the instructional practices they experienced, and the support they received from teachers, peers, and parents. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine the effects at both student and country levels. Results: The results across countries revealed a decline in student engagement from Grade 7 to Grade 9, with girls reporting higher engagement than boys. These trends did not vary across the 12 countries according to the Human Development Index and Hofstede's Individualism Index. Most of the contextual factors (instructional practices, teacher support, and parent support) were positively associated with student engagement. With the exception that parent support had a stronger association with student engagement in countries with higher collectivism, most of the associations between the contextual factors and student engagement did not vary across countries. Conclusions: The results indicate both cultural universality and specificity regarding contextual factors associated with student engagement in school. They illustrate the advantages of integrating etic and emic approaches in cross‐cultural investigations.

Engagement in school and self-concept are two main constructs to explain the school adjustment. To understand how engagement might change during adolescence, we analyzed early and middle adolescents’ engagement in school (cognitive, affective, behavioural, and personal agency) as a function of their level of self-concept. Participants were 685 adolescents, 296 males (43.2%) and 389 females between 11-17 years old. Among early adolescents, students with high self-concept always reported more cognitive, affective, behavioural, and personal agency engagement than students with low self-concept. However, among middle adolescents, students with high self-concept reported only higher affective and behavioral engagement than students with low self-concept. High self-concept middle adolescents reported levels of cognitive and agentic engagement that were the same as their low self-concept peers, suggesting that these high self-concept middle adolescents had lost their earlier high levels of cognitive and agentic engagement.

The problem statementStudent engagement in school has been conceptualized through three dimensions: affective, behavioural, and cognitive. Recent evidence suggests that personal agency could be added as a fourth dimension. The dimensionality of engagement has constituted a problem.Purpose of the studyTo measure these dimensions of engagement in Portuguese schools, a new 20-items scale was developed, entitled Studentś Engagement in School Four-dimensional Scale, SES-4DS.Research questionsDoes the dimensionality of the students’ engagement in school contains four dimensions, not just three? Does the supposed four-dimensional scale present good psychometric qualities, such as internal consistency and external validity?Research methodsIts psychometric properties were examined with data from 685 sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth graders. The analysis allowed to find a scale with 20 items that, with a high percentage of variance explained and good levels of reliability. In the study of external validity, the results in the SES-4DS appeared significantly related to the academic achievement.FindingsThe results permitted to find this scale presents psychometric qualities and can be used in research and psychoeducational practice, to assess the multidimensional students’ engagement in school. The future use of the SES-4DS is considered and proposed. This scale may be a useful opportunity for psychologists and teachers