Guillaume Casta, Jagers Robert, Rivas-Drake Deborah
University of Michigan, 200 E. SEB, E. University, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1043, USA.
Am J Community Psychol. 2015 Dec;56(3-4):321-31. doi: 10.1007/s10464-015-9759-2.
The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross-sectional sample n = 324; longitudinal sample n = 232), M = 12 years old, 46 % female, 53 % male. Forty-two percent (42.2 %) of the sample self-identified as African American, 19.8 % as Multiracial or Mixed, 19.4 % as Latino, 11.6 % as Asian American or Pacific Islander, 11.6 % identified as Other, and 5.2 % as Native American. The study tested and found support for a latent mediation model in which more positive perceptions of school climate were positively related to school connectedness, and this in turn, was positively associated with civic engagement; school climate was also positively associated with academic-self-efficacy beliefs, but such beliefs did not mediate the climate-civic engagement association. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
本研究调查了学校氛围、学校归属感和学业效能信念如何影响有色人种初中学生新兴的公民参与行为。使用适合发展阶段的公民参与测量方法，对这些关联进行了同时期和纵向的考察。数据取自一项关于初中社会/情感发展的较大规模研究的两个子样本（横断面样本n = 324；纵向样本n = 232），平均年龄12岁，女性占46%，男性占53%。样本中42%（42.2%）自我认定为非裔美国人，19.8%为多种族或混血，19.4%为拉丁裔，11.6%为亚裔美国人或太平洋岛民，11.6%认定为其他，5.2%为美洲原住民。该研究检验并支持了一个潜在中介模型，即对学校氛围的更积极认知与学校归属感呈正相关，而学校归属感又与公民参与呈正相关；学校氛围也与学业自我效能信念呈正相关，但此类信念并未中介氛围与公民参与之间的关联。文中讨论了对未来研究和实践的启示。
