Moderated Mediating Effects of Teacher Support and Microaggressions on School Engagement through Self-Esteem and School Behavior in a Sample of Black Adolescents

Background and Purpose:

There is considerable evidence regarding the adverse impact of microaggressions on Black adolescents’ behavior and emotional well-being. Experiencing microaggressions often leads to poor academic outcomes, an increase in school behavior concerns, and a decrease in emotional well-being. In spite of a growing body of research that affirms the critical role of teacher support on the schooling experiences of Black adolescents, more understanding is needed of how teacher support directly influences Black adolescents’ school engagement. This study tested a moderated mediation model to examine the effects of microaggressions and teacher support on school engagement using self-esteem and school misbehavior as mediators and gender as a moderator.

Methods:

Researchers analyzed School Success Profile (SSP) cross-sectional data collected between the 2009-2010 and 2013-2014 school years. The sample consisted of 876 Black adolescents in grades 6 through 9 enrolled in 14 schools in North Carolina. SEM was used to test the effects of microaggressions and teacher support on school engagement through their effects on self-esteem and school misbehavior as mediators. To determine if the relationships among variables differed for males and females, a binary gender variable was the moderator in the model. We used Mplus version 8.4 for the analyses.

Results:

All fit criteria were met by the model. All hypothesized direct and indirect (mediation) paths were statistically significant. Experiencing microaggressions at school was associated with lower self-esteem and higher rates of misbehavior. Perceptions of teacher support were associated with higher self-esteem and lower rates of misbehavior. Higher self-esteem was associated with greater engagement in school, while higher rates of misbehavior were associated with lower levels of engagement. As hypothesized, the indirect effects of both microaggressions and teacher support on engagement were mediated through their effects on both self-esteem and misbehavior.

About 33% of the variance of engagement and about 20% of the variance of self-esteem was explained by the model. Because of the different magnitude of effects of microaggressions on misbehavior, the percentage of variance of misbehavior that was explained by the model differed for males and females: about 30% for females and about 15% for males.

Gender moderated two direct paths in the model. The effects of experiencing microaggressions at school had a stronger impact on misbehavior for females more than males (standardized coefficient .35 vs. .19). In addition, the observed positive relationship between lunch program participation and engagement was stronger for females than males (.34 vs. .16).

Conclusion and Implications:

Findings provide evidence of the deleterious influence of microaggressions on Black adolescents’ school engagement and information on how those effects occur. The critical role of teacher support in supporting students’ emotional well-being was also affirmed. The results suggest that interventions designed to bolster teachers’ use of strategies to support students can build students’ self-esteem, guide them to more positive behavior, and in turn, improve their engagement. In addition, helping teachers to identify and address microaggressions targeting Black adolescents can improve these students’ emotional well-being, behavior and school engagement.