4186.0 - The role of social support in the association between familial incarceration and school engagement; Findings from a diverse sample of high school students

Xiao Zhang MPHc, Eric Shanazari, MPHc, Mikaela Rojas, MPHc, Abnous Shahverdi, MPH, Kim Rogers and Myriam Forster, PhD, MPH

Background: Despite research indicating that having an incarcerated parent can increase risk for academic difficulties and reduced school engagement, robust predictors of positive youth outcomes, and key components of a positive school climate, few studies have investigated a) if having any family member incarcerated (FI) diminishes school engagement and b) whether perceived social support can offset the risk of FI for lower engagement. 

Methods: Data are survey responses (N=1,771) from a diverse sample of high school students enrolled in the Supporting Student Health and Resilience (SHARE) project. GLMs tested the hypothesized relationships between FI, perceived social support and students’ affective, cognitive, and behavioral school engagement and any potential sex differences. 

Results: On average students were 15 (SD=1.3) years old and evenly divided by sex (47% male). A history of FI was associated with lower affective (ß=-1.6 p<0.01, 95%CI=-2.531,-0.575), cognitive (ß=-1.4 p<0.01, 95%CI=-2.309,-0.505), and behavioral (ß=-0.7 p<0.01, 95%CI=-1.155,-0.167) engagement while perceived social support was positively associated with engagement (ßs= 0.02-0.04, 95%CI=0.15-0.50). There were sex differences in these associations; although females had higher average engagement scores than males, females with FI had lower affective engagement than all other students. High levels of perceived social support mitigated the negative effects of FI for affective (p<0.05) but not cognitive or behavioral engagement. 

Discussion: FI increases risk for lower school engagement however students with strong subjective social support had similar affective school engagement scores to their peers. Intervention programs that foster social support for vulnerable youth are a promising approach to improving school engagement.