Environmental Predictors of School Engagement Among First and Second Generation Latinx Youth

Background. For individuals residing in the U.S., education is a strong predictor of outcomes across the life cycle such as economic well-being and mental health. Though research underscores the benefits of academic achievement, schools continue to have high dropout rates and achievement gaps, especially among Latinx youth. Latinx youth experience relatively high rates of economic hardship, traumatic experiences, and discrimination— factors related to poorer educational outcomes. School engagement is considered to be one of the best measures of true academic achievement, as it represents a measurable and malleable construct. A better understanding of the links between economic hardship, trauma, and discrimination on multiple domains of school engagement will help inform educational policy and practice in ways that enhance positive youth development and learning, leading to long term economic and mental health benefits for Latinx youth. To address this knowledge gap, the research team conducted a survey which asked 306 Latinx first and second-generation high school students to report: (1) levels of cognitive, behavioral and relational domains of school engagement and (2) experiences with economic hardship, trauma exposure and perceived discrimination. Multivariate linear regression was used to explore trauma exposure, discrimination, and economic hardship as predictors of cognitive, behavioral and relational domains of school engagement. Methods. Participants were recruited from 11 high schools in Texas (n = 152) and Rhode Island (n = 154). The survey was administered in English or Spanish on iPads. Fifty-eight percent of participants were female and more than half were first-generation immigrants. The outcome variables (cognitive, behavioral, and relational school engagement) were measured using the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study’s School Engagement subscales (α =.79). The predictor variables (discrimination, trauma exposure, and economic hardship) were taken from the Adolescent Discrimination Index (ADI) (α=.83) and the Life Events Checklist (α=.82). Economic hardship is an 8-item measure that assesses the extent to which students’ families have the ability to pay for household necessities (α=.86). Demographic covariates included age, gender, nativity, and English-language proficiency. Linear regression was used to test the association between discrimination, trauma and economic hardship on the three domains of school engagement. Results. Experiences with trauma and perceived discrimination had strong statistical association with some forms of school engagement but not others. Students with more trauma exposure (=.096 [.049], p=.050) had lower behavioral engagement, while those experiencing more perceived discrimination had lower relational engagement ((-.164 [.056], p=.004). Economic hardship was negatively related to behavioral engagement in school (.085 [.033], p=.011), with greater economic hardship associated with lower behavioral engagement. Implications. Discrimination, trauma, and economic hardship have significant, yet differential impacts on Latinx students’ engagement in school. Often, students’ success is gauged by their grades, attendance, or test scores, ignoring the other important aspects of school engagement. Because education is important for later outcomes, it is imperative to view school engagement as a multifaceted construct that is differentially impacted not only by individual characteristics but also by environmental factors such as poverty, discrimination, and exposure to trauma.