https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4947-0228
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Abstract
COVID-19 negatively impacts students’ learning as well as physical and mental health. This study examined the effects of perceived online learning difficulties and cyberbullying on academic engagement and mental health, and if parenting styles and student–teacher relationship moderated these relations among 733 middle school students (54.3% boys) and their parents (Mage = 44.76 years, SD = 4.13 years, 28.1% fathers and 71.9% mothers) from Beijing, China. Results suggested that perceived online learning difficulties and cyberbullying predicted more mental health difficulties; perceived difficulties with online learning negatively predicted academic engagement. Authoritative parenting and positive student–teacher relationship predicted more academic engagement and less mental health difficulties, while authoritarian parenting predicted more mental health difficulties. Student–teacher relationship also moderated the relation between cyberbullying and mental health as well as difficulties with online learning and academic engagement. Parents and adolescents wanted more interactions with teachers and group activities to foster peer relationships, and more support from teachers and school psychologists to address students’ social and emotional needs during COVID-19. Implications for school psychologists and school staff are discussed.
Impact Statement
A majority of Chinese middle school students in our sample experienced difficulties with distance learning during COVID-19, which was negatively related to their academic engagement (e.g., active participation in class) and mental health. This is one of the first studies to highlight the importance of two protective factors (authoritative parenting and positive student–teacher relationships) on student academic engagement and mental health during COVID-19. The findings highlight important implications for school staff (teachers and school psychologists) and provide suggestions on how to better support adolescents in the online learning environment during the COVID-19.
Associate Editor:
Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Yijun Ye
Yijun Ye is a school psychologist at TsingHua University High School. She graduated with a Masters’ degree in clinical psychology at Peking University. Her research interests include adolescent development, parenting, and family engagement.
Cixin Wang
Cixin Wang is an Associate Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on bullying prevention, mental health promotion, and parenting, especially for youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Qianyu Zhu
Qianyu Zhu is a doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include the relation between parenting and children’s psychosocial outcomes and bullying intervention in school.
Minxuan He
Minxuan He is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on infant development, emotion and emotional development, and parenting, especially with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.
Mazneen Havawala
Mazneen Havewala is a doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include examining the effects of parental behaviors and peer influences on child and adolescent mental health.
Xuefeng Bai
Xuefeng Bai in an Associate Principle at TsingHua University High School, and a committee member of the high school education committee in Haidian District in Beijing. His research interests include moral education and language education.
Tian Wang
Tian Wang is the director of Student Development Center at TsingHua University High School. His research interests include moral education and physics education.