Predicting Students’ School Engagement Based on Communication Skills, Self-restraint, Perceived Parenting Style, and Sensory Processing

Passion generally refers to the stimuli that shape a certain pattern of behavior. It can affects all aspects of a person’s life, including education and academic success. The present study aims to assess the predictability of school engagement based on communication skills, self-restraint, perceived parenting style, and sensory processing.

This is a descriptive-analytical study using the structural equation modeling (SEM).The study population consists of all secondary school students in Tehran (district 6). Sampling was done using purposive and convenience sampling methods. Using Cochran’s formula, the minimum sample size was obtained 385. Data collection tools were Baumrind’s parenting styles questionnaire, communication skills test-revised (CSTR), self-restraint scale, adolescent/adult sensory profile, and School Engagement Measure. To evaluate the SEM model, the significance level and path coefficients were investigated using the bootstrap method (re-sampling and sequential) and student’s t-test. 

Of 385 participants, 199 were girls (51.7%) and 186 were boys (48.3%), mostly aged 16 years (47.8%). Their mean age was 17.1±0.84 years. Results showed that the coefficient of determination (R2), Stone-Geisser’s Q2, and path coefficients were positive in all variables. The R2 value was 0.71, indicating that the independent variables together could predict 71% of school engagement.

Communication skills, self-restraint, perceived parenting style, and sensory processing are predictors of school engagement in students. Among these variables, communication skills have the highest effect.