Adolescence a Period of Vulnerability and Risk for Adverse Outcomes across the Life Course: The Role of Parent Engagement in Learning

Adolescence is a time when developmental and contextual transitions converge, increasing the risk for adverse outcomes across the life course. It is during this period that self-concept declines, mental health problems increase and when young people make educational and occupational plans for their future. Considerable research has shown that parent engagement in their child’s learning has positive effects on academic and wellbeing outcomes and may be a protective factor in adolescence. However, it is during adolescence that parent engagement typically declines. Most studies focus on early childhood or use cross-sectional designs that do not account for the high variability in both the child’s development and the parent-child relationship over time. In this chapter, we examine the association between parent engagement and students’ outcomes—self-concept, mental health, and educational aspirations—drawing on national data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, while accounting for the school context—school belonging, peer connection problems, and bullying—and parenting styles using panel fixed effects models. We then explore perceptions of parental engagement and educational aspirations among a sample of adolescent students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds using interviews from the Learning through COVID-19 study. Findings show that parent engagement is important for students’ outcomes such as self-concept, mental health and aspirations in early and middle adolescence, even when accounting for family and school context factors. Further, parent engagement in late adolescence, with students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds, continues to be important for positive student outcomes.