Students who are not motivated and do not try to do well are unlikely to achieve consistent with their abilities. This research assesses the relationships over time between school engagement and parenting practices and peer affiliation among sixth to ninth graders using latent growth models. Participants included 2,453 students recruited from seven public middle schools who were assessed five times between fall of sixth and ninth grades as part of a program evaluation study. School engagement and adjustment declined somewhat, whereas substance use, conduct problems, and problem-behaving friends increased and authoritative parenting practices declined. The significant, positive, over-time associations between school engagement and parent involvement, expectations, and monitoring were fully mediated by growth in problem-behaving friends. School adjustment mediated the relationship between school engagement and parent expectations. Findings suggest that authoritative parenting practices may foster school engagement directly and indirectly by discouraging affiliation with problem-behaving friends and facilitating school adjustment.
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