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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Educ., 09 October 2024
Sec. Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education

The role of socio-emotional security on school engagement and academic achievement: systematic literature review

  • 1Research Centre for Human Development, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal
  • 2Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
  • 3Faculty of Education and Psychology, Psychology University Clinic, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal

Introduction: Socio-emotional security and particularly secure attachment relationships with parents and peers have been associated with positive developmental outcomes, including school-related variables. This systematic literature review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the literature, exploring the relationship between socio-emotional security (attachment, support, and secure relations with parents and peers) and academic achievement, school engagement, and early school dropout.

Methods: The inclusion criteria were studies with socio-emotional security as the independent variable and academic achievement and/or school engagement as the dependent variable, using a quantitative methodology, written in English. The exclusion criteria were articles presenting literature review or meta-analysis, interventions or instrument validation studies, studies with a qualitative approach, studies developed in an e-learning context, studies with university students, and/or focused on schooling in extreme conditions (e.g., COVID-19). PRISMA guidelines were followed, through a search that resulted in the identification of 38 empirical quantitative studies, published between 2018 and 2022, in English.

Results and discussion: The results revealed that parent and peer relationships impact students’ academic achievement and school engagement, as expected, and highlighted the relevance of parental and peer relationships for school-related outcomes. Future research should consider the role of potential mediators and moderators in the relationship between socio-emotional security and school outcomes.

Introduction

Socio-emotional security refers to the sense of safety that individuals experience in their social environments, including the sense of emotional safety, social support and belonging to a group. Secure relationships with parents, characterized by a sense of trust, emotional support, and effective communication, have been linked to positive developmental outcomes in various domains, including the way children get integrated and cope with challenges in the school context (Kennedy and Kennedy, 2004), as well as how they perform at school tasks (Bergin and Bergin, 2009; DeMulder et al., 2000). Furthermore, children with a secure attachment with their parents tend to demonstrate higher levels of school engagement, such as active participation in classroom activities, better peer relationships, and increased motivation to learn (Hughes et al., 2008). Several mechanisms may contribute to the association between attachment to parents and academic outcomes. For example, van IJzendoorn et al. (1995) found in a meta-analysis that secure children tend to be less concerned, and their attachment system is activated less frequently, allowing higher levels of concentration and attention in academic tasks, in the classroom, or when doing homework.

In addition to research on the impact of parent–child attachment security on school performance and engagement, the role of attachment to peers in children’s school experiences has also been explored by the literature. As developmental psychology research shows, peers become increasingly important during early childhood and throughout the school years, as children spend a significant time interacting and establishing relationships within the peer group (Rubin et al., 2006). Attachment to peers refers to the quality of emotional bonds and close friendships children form with their peers (Lieberman et al., 1999). Secure peer relationships are associated with positive developmental outcomes in various areas of children’s functioning, including their academic achievement (e.g., Mikami et al., 2010). Furthermore, positive peer relationships contribute to a supportive learning environment, promoting engagement, cooperation, and the development of social and emotional skills necessary for school success (Wentzel, 2015).

The relatedness principle of attachment theory has been included in other relevant theoretical frameworks such as the Socio-Ecological Theory (e.g., Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006), Self-Determination Theory (Ryan and Deci, 2020), Positive Parenting Theories (Bornstein, 2019; Sanders et al., 2003), or Social Goal Theory (Wentzel, 2015). In turn, these theories have also concerned about the impact of the relational quality and support on educational outcomes, considering that school performance and school engagement demand a multi-factorial approach, including individual, relational, contextual, and socio-political variables. Thus, the study of the relational dimension is crucial to support practices within the school context that allow the promotion of school engagement and academic achievement, and the prevention of early school dropout through the development of targeted interventions based on the promotion of secure relationships with parents and peers. However, the systematization of the impact of the relational quality and support on educational outcomes remains unclear and inconsistent.

Considering this broad perspective on parents’ and peers’ relationship quality and support – integrating the contribution from different theoretical models -, the present systematic literature review aims to synthesize recent published evidence on the association between socio-emotional security and school outcomes, namely academic achievement, school engagement, and early school dropout, from preschool to second-chance schools. This review, focusing on articles published between 2018 and 2022, intends to integrate a comprehensive perspective, supported by recent empirical studies, on the role of these relational dimensions with parents and peers on key educational outcomes. The use of the five-year timeframe for this review ensures a focus on current relevance, as well as a manageable scope, considering the vast literature on the subject.

Methods

Objectives

The goals of this systematic literature review were to synthesize evidence support for the association between socio-emotional security with parents and peers and: (a) academic achievement; (b) school engagement; (c) early school dropout.

Search strategy

The search strategy followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. PRISMA guidelines intend to contribute to a complete report of the results, to assess the appropriateness of the used method, and consequently the trustworthiness of the findings (Page et al., 2021).

Four electronic databases [ERIC and Academic Search Complete (through EBSCO database), Scopus, and Web of Science] were used to identify the articles published on the topic of interest on 13 of February 2023. The search included all the terms that the research team identified as relevant to have a wide picture of the association between academic achievement and school engagement (Table 1). After the identification of the relevant articles, the selection of studies was conducted in pairs of researchers that screened the studies independently.

Table 1
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Table 1. Systematic literature review search strategy.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

All the studies were assessed and reviewed against the following inclusion criteria: (1) socio-emotional security (particularly attachment to parents and peers and related variables) was considered the independent variable; (2) academic achievement and/or school engagement were considered as the dependent variable; (3) primary research studies using a quantitative methodology; (4) studies with participants from preschool to secondary school (K-12), including second-chance and vocational schools; (5) articles published between January 2018 and December 2022; and (6) written in English. Articles were excluded when the following exclusion criteria were present: (1) the aim of the study was to conduct a literature review or meta-analysis; (2) interventions or focus on instrument validation studies; (3) studies using a qualitative approach; (4) studies developed in an e-learning context; (5) studies with university students; and (6) studies focused on schooling in extreme conditions (e.g., COVID-19, armed conflict, natural disaster, child hospitalization, food insecurity).

Data extraction

The search of these databases yielded a total of 522 articles which were narrowed down to 392 after the detection and elimination of duplicates. Articles that did not meet our independent and dependent variables were removed during the abstract screening phase, resulting in 88 articles moving to the next phase. During the full-text review, articles were further examined for methodological compliance with our inclusion/exclusion criteria. In total, 50 articles were excluded: (1) in 22 articles, the independent variable was not related to socio-emotional security; (2) in 11 studies the dependent variables were not school outcomes; (3) in 11 studies the design did not fulfil the inclusion criteria (qualitative studies, intervention evaluation, and measure validation studies); (4) in three studies data was collected during extreme conditions (COVID-19 pandemic and chronic illness); (5) in two studies the full-text version was not available; and (6) in one study the language of writing was not English. A total of 38 articles were extracted in the final stage (Figure 1).

Figure 1
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Figure 1. PRISMA flowchart of selected studies.

To conduct data extraction the Covidence software was used to streamline the process of screening references, data extraction and keep the track of the work (Veritas Health Innovation, 2021). During the full-text screening, the average reliability was moderate (Cohen’s k = 0.58). When an agreement was not met, in each screening stage, a consensus was obtained between the two independent reviewers.

To accomplish with the goal and synthesize data from the studies, the following information was extracted from each article using a template developed for this purpose: generic article information (authors, publication year, DOI), socio-demographics (sample size, age, school level, country), theoretical framework, type of informant for the attachment to parents or peers (e.g., support, relationship quality, parental practices), and for the school-related outcomes (academic achievement, school engagement), type of study design, statistical analyses used, the type of relation between attachment-related variables and the outcome and general comments.

Results

Characterization of the studies

Considering the 38 studies included in the systematic literature review, the sample sizes ranged from 60 to 99,686 and the average mean of age was 12.8 years (average SD = 1.20). Data regarding the independent variable was based on the informant reports, specifically children (n = 32), parent (n = 5), and teacher (n = 1). The dependent variable was reported by children (n = 30) or other and third parties (e.g., GPA scores) (n = 9). Almost all studies relied on students’ self-report to assess both independent and dependent variables. The studies included in the review were conducted in seven world regions. See Table 2 for a complete description of the sociodemographic variables.

Table 2
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Table 2. Characteristics of the studies.

The independent variables were categorized using a content-analytic approach, ensuring the conceptual proximity between then and the integration in related theoretical frameworks (Attachment Theory, Socio-Ecological Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Positive Parenting Theories, and Social Goal Theory). Only five studies used attachment as the independent variable. Most studies focused on support (e.g., peer support, parental support) (n = 12), followed by relationship quality (e.g., relationship with parents) (n = 10), involvement (e.g., parental involvement) (n = 6), parental practices (e.g., parental styles) (n = 5), and attachment style/security (n = 5). The measures that were used for assessing the independent variables were validated measures of these variables. In some particular situations, only specific subscales or items were used.

The school related outcomes were classified into the two categories of interest for this systematic review: academic achievement (n = 17) and school engagement (n = 23). Several studies were focused on “other outcomes,” such as academic self-regulation, school wellbeing, self-determination, happiness at school, school frequency/truancy, school-related cognitive functioning, academic competence, and academic stress. These studies were assigned to the main categories, based on their conceptual proximity, more specifically: (1) “perceived academic competence” and “school-related cognitive functioning” were assigned to the category “academic achievement”; and (2) “school wellbeing,” “academic self-regulation,” “academic stress,” “students’ homework effort,” “frequency of truancy,” and “happiness at school” were assigned to the category “school engagement.”

Only direct effects of the independent variables on the outcome variables were considered. The results were organized based on the analysis of the articles attending to the outcome variables.

School engagement

Twenty-four studies focused on the impact or association of attachment-related variables on or with school engagement and related variables. Most of the studies presented significant results and only in four studies no significant associations or predictions were reported (Demirtas-Zorbaza and Ergeneb, 2019; Göbel and Preusche, 2019; Teuscher and Makarova, 2018; Yang et al., 2022) (Table 3).

Table 3
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Table 3. Association with/impact on school engagement.

Attachment three studies focused on the role of parental warmth on school engagement. Chung et al. (2020) and Theron et al. (2022) found that parental warmth predicted school engagement, both in lower and upper secondary students. One study found weak, but significant, correlations between attachment to parents and peers and school engagement, in secondary students (Sevari and Rezaei, 2019).

Relationship with parents five studies explored the association or impact of the relationship with parents or caregivers with or on school engagement. Song et al. (2018) showed a positive, but weak, association between parent–child relationship and school engagement. Three studies (Chyu and Chen, 2022; Markkula et al., 2021; Sethi and Scales, 2020) reported a positive impact of the level of parent–child relationship, and developmental relationship with parents—as defined by Pekel et al. (2018) – on school engagement. Of these, one study showed that cognitive school engagement was only predicted by a positive relationship with the father (Martinot et al., 2022). Another study examined the predictive power of developmental parent–child relationship on a specific dimension of academic engagement—academic motivation, with the relationship with parents significantly predicting motivation in middle school and in high-school students (Sethi and Scales, 2020). One study focused on the quality of the relationship with the caseworker as a predictor of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive school engagement of youth in foster care, with results showing a significant predictive power on these three dimensions of engagement (Jaramillo and Kothari, 2022).

Parental involvement two studies examined the impact of parental involvement and school engagement, with inconsistent results. In Cheung (2019) study, parental involvement in learning significantly predicted school engagement, but in Demirtas-Zorbaza and Ergeneb (2019) study, no significant associations were found between these variables.

Parental support seven studies explored the association or predictive power of parental support on school engagement. Three studies explored the influence of parental autonomy support on school engagement. Parental autonomy support is considered the affective recognition of one’s own free choice and self-determination that a child obtains from his/her parents (Zhao et al., 2022). One of these studies showed a weak, but significant correlation between parental autonomy support and school engagement (Zhou et al., 2019), and the other two studies showed that parental autonomy support significantly predicted school engagement (Feng et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2022). A more general assessment of parental support was analyzed in four studies. In Martinot et al. (2022) study, parental support predicted cognitive school engagement, and in Ryan et al. (2019) and in Toraman et al. (2022) parental support predicted global school engagement. Göbel and Preusche (2019) showed that parental support was not associated with school engagement.

Parental practices one study examined the relation between parental practices and autonomous motivation at school (Cimon-Paquet et al., 2022) showing bidirectional associations between parental practices, namely perceived parental solicitation (e.g., parents’ asking their adolescent about their activities outside of the home), and autonomous motivation (e. g, when students engage in their schoolwork because they find them inherently interesting) assessed 12 months later.

Relationship with peers four studies addressed the role of the relationship with peers on school engagement. Demirtas-Zorbaza and Ergeneb (2019) found that peer relationships significantly predicted school engagement. In another study, the level of peer acceptance during the 4th grade predicted school engagement in the same school year, but also in the 5th and 6th grades (Weyns et al., 2021). Sethi and Scales (2020) reported that developmental relationships with peers predicted academic motivation in middle school, but not in high school. On the contrary, Teuscher and Makarova (2018) did not find positive associations between the relationship with peers and school engagement.

Peer support five studies addressed the relation between peer support and school engagement. Three studies showed that peer support predicted school engagement (Göbel and Preusche, 2019; Ryan et al., 2019; Saleh et al., 2019). One study reported that peer support predicted social engagement, but also behavioral disengagement (Martinot et al., 2022). One study reported no significant associations between peer support and school engagement (Yang et al., 2022).

Social support one study explored the role of general social support on school engagement. O’Neal et al. (2022) aimed to better understand the influence of social support, namely the dimensions of reliable alliance, sense of attachment, guidance, social integrations, reassurance of worth, and opportunity for nurturance, from family and non-family relationships, on school engagement, showing a positive, but weak correlation between these variables.

Academic achievement

Seventeen studies focused on the impact or association of attachment-related variables on or with academic achievement. Most of the studies evidenced significant results and only three presented no significant associations or predictions (Carmona-Halty et al., 2022; de Castro and Pereira, 2019; Li et al., 2022) (Table 4).

Table 4
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Table 4. Associations with/impact on academic achievement.

Attachment three studies examined the role of attachment on academic achievement. Zarrella et al. (2018) showed that, attending to attachment patterns, securely attached children reported better academic scores when compared to insecure-avoidant or disorganized attachment children. The third study showed that communication with mother and trust to father significantly predicted academic achievement (Demirtas-Zorbaza et al., 2018). In de Castro and Pereira’s (2019) study, no association was found between attachment styles and academic achievement.

Parent–child relationship three studies focused on the role of parent–child relationship in academic achievement. In Evans and Field’s (2020) study, the general quality of parent–child relationships significantly predicted academic achievement, as well as in Toor’s (2018) study that compared high-achievers and low-achievers. On the one hand, results showed that high achievers reported more protective relationships, symbolic reward, and love from their mothers. On the other hand, low achievers reported more rejection and neglect from their mothers (Toor, 2018). Carmona-Halty et al. (2022), reporting data from a longitudinal design, did not find a significant association between parent–child relationship, assessed at the end of the regular academic semester, and academic achievement assessed 18 weeks later.

Parental involvement four studies examined the role of parental involvement on academic achievement, and all found positive significant results. Assefa and Sintayehu (2019) reported a moderate positive correlation between parental involvement and academic achievement in secondary school students. In a study conducted with a large sample of secondary school students, parental home-based involvement predicted academic achievement (Chung et al., 2020). Lara and Saracostti (2019), in a study with elementary school students reported that children with high and average-involved parents presented higher academic achievement than children with parents showing low involvement. Finally, in another study with elementary school students (Saracostti et al., 2019), parental involvement significantly predicted the learning outcomes of children.

Parental support three studies, all conducted in China, analyzed the importance of parental support for academic achievement. Liu et al. (2022), in a study with 1,940 vocational school students, showed that parent’s emotional support was positively correlated with students’ academic achievement. In another study, also with vocational school students, results showed that global parental involvement significantly predicted students’ academic achievement (Peng et al., 2022). However, Li et al.’ (2022) study, specifically assessing parental academic support, did not find an association between parental support and children’s academic performance.

Parental practices two studies focused on parenting styles and academic achievement. Both studies found a significant predictive power of authoritative parenting style on academic achievement. However, the impact of the authoritarian parenting style was different in these studies. In Boateng et al. (2021) study, this style positively predicted academic achievement; in Dagnew (2018), the authoritarian style negatively predicted this outcome. The results related to the permissive and neglecting styles were also not consistent: the neglecting style revealed a significant negative predictive power in Boateng et al. (2021) but was not significant in Dagnew (2018) study. Considering the permissive style, a significant negative predictive power was found in Dagnew (2018) study and was not significant in Boateng et al. (2021). One study, examining the association between poor parental supervision and academic achievement, revealed a weak negative correlation between these variables (Brajša-Žganec et al., 2019).

Social support one study examined the role of social support (family and non-family individuals) on academic achievement (O’Neal et al., 2022). This study, conducted with a large sample of adolescents from military families, revealed that the experience of social support from family and non-family members was positively correlated with a better academic achievement.

Early school dropout

No articles were found examining the role of attachment-related variables on early school dropout considering the temporal frame for this systematic literature review – 2018–2022.

Discussion

This systematic literature review intended to summarize the evidence of the last 5 years (2018–2022) regarding the relationship between socio-emotional security, particularly attachment to parents and peers or other attachment-related variables, and academic outcomes—school engagement, academic achievement, and early school dropout—in children and adolescents, from preschool to vocational schools.

Considering the screening based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 38 studies were included in the review. These articles focused on school engagement and academic achievement, as outcomes, with samples of students from elementary school, secondary school, and vocational school levels. No studies were found with preschool children, or with early school dropout as outcome. The absence of studies with preschool children could be explained by the fact that the outcome variables selected for this review are not applicable at this school period. In fact, school engagement requires cognitive skills necessary to have agency toward the school context and, during this developmental stage, children are not yet prepared to do it. Furthermore, academic achievement is only relevant from primary school onwards since formal evaluation procedures usually only start at the primary school. Regarding early school dropout, it was expected that this outcome would be examined in the literature. However, no articles focused on this outcome were included in the review, which could be explained for two main reasons. First, the inclusion criteria followed in the search strategy resulted in the exclusion of eventual qualitative or mixed-methods studies, that are commonly used to address early school dropout (e.g., Krane et al., 2016). Second, there is a large variability in school systems and policies (e.g., the definition of years of compulsory education), resulting in low levels of dropout, even if based on administrative measures, in many countries. The review was organized based on the analysis of the articles attending to the outcome variables (school engagement and academic achievement) and the attachment-related dimensions used as independent variables (attachment, relationship, involvement, support, and parental practices). In general, the studies showed significant associations or predictive power of the independent variables and the outcomes, with a very limited number of studies showing non-significant results (n = 7; 18.4%).

Considering the studies focused on school engagement as the outcome variable, the most prevalent independent variable was parental and peer support. Support from parents or peers was assessed in various ways, corresponding to signs of global attachment, i.e., secure relationships with the student (e.g., Martinot et al., 2022), secure-base, i.e., supporting student’s exploratory behavior, such as their autonomy (e.g., Feng et al., 2019), or safe haven, i.e., providing support when students face distress or are in need (e.g., Ryan et al., 2019). In general, these studies show that parental or peer support play a relevant and positive role in students’ school engagement. In one of the studies (Martinot et al., 2022), peer support was associated with social engagement, but also, and unexpectedly, with behavioral disengagement, probably because of the popularity of “trouble-maker” students (Martinot et al., 2022). For adolescents, engaging in disruptive behaviors may increase their popularity, prestige and social recognition and this could be a priority comparing with complying with school demands. The second larger group of studies focused on the students’ relationship with parents and peers, mostly addressed as a sign of global attachment quality. In general, the quality of the relationship was related to a better school engagement. These results are in line with previous research showing that school engagement, either addressed as a general construct, or considering its cognitive, behavioral, and emotional/affective dimensions, is partially predicted by relational variables, either within the actual school context, such as a positive student-teacher relationship (e.g., Allen et al., 2016) or peer friendship quality (e.g., Perdue et al., 2009), but also within the family system, such as parental involvement (e.g., Shumow et al., 2011).

Regarding the studies addressing academic achievement as the outcome, the independent variables examined were related to global attachment quality—addressed by 11 studies (Boateng et al., 2021; de Castro and Pereira, 2019; Carmona-Halty et al., 2022; Dagnew, 2018; Demirtas-Zorbaza et al., 2018; Evans and Field, 2020; O’Neal et al., 2022; Peng et al., 2022; Saracosti, et al., 2019; Toor, 2018; Zarrella et al., 2018), and/or to attachment secure-base—addressed by six studies (Assefa and Sintayehu, 2019; Brajša-Žganec et al., 2019; Chung et al., 2020; Lara and Saracostti, 2019; Li et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2022). In general, all studies reported a significant association between these attachment-related dimensions and students’ academic achievement, in line with previous research showing that attachment has a relevant impact on academic achievement, in different school levels (c.f., Bergin and Bergin, 2009). In particular, there are significant and positive associations between attachment and academic achievement in primary school level but no significant results with students attending 8th grade. Considering the developmental characteristics of the samples, children in the 8th grade tend to be developing close relationships with friends and are more concerned about their opinions and acceptance.

Some limitations of this literature review should be considered and addressed in future studies. First, the methodological quality, taking into consideration the possible biases or weaknesses of the studies was not thoroughly examined. Second, the mediating or moderating role of other variables, in the relation between socio-emotional security with parents and peers, and school-related outcomes, was not explored. It is possible that some non-significant direct effects reported in this review could turn to be significant, when addressed together with other variables. In addition, the predictive power of some independent variables may be stronger through the combined analysis of several variables. Future reviews should also consider the analysis of qualitative and mixed-method studies, allowing to explore socio-emotional factors that have influence on K-12 completion.

Despite the above-mentioned limitations, this systematic review highlighted the relevance of parental and peer relationships for school-related outcomes. Research on academic outcomes is usually focused on the role of individual or school context variables (e.g., students’ academic self-efficacy, teachers’ pedagogical practices). On the other hand, research on attachment to parents tends to examine its impact on children’s broad developmental outcomes (e.g., socio-emotional development). In fact, in this review, only five studies were identified that directly assessed the impact or the relation between attachment styles or attachment security on school engagement and academic achievement (de Castro and Pereira, 2019; Chung et al., 2020; Demirtas-Zorbaza et al., 2018; Sevari and Rezaei, 2019; Zarrella et al., 2018). The inclusion of articles focused on other variables that are not specifically labeled as “attachment”—parental involvement, parental and peer support, parental practices, and relationship with parents and peers—stresses the importance of relational variables on students’ engagement and academic achievement.

Implications for practice

This literature review confirms the importance of developing secure and warm relationships with people who are significant in children’s lives, given that it may influence their outcomes on several life areas, and contexts, such as school, reinforcing the importance of promoting family-school relationships (Epstein, 1995). Professionals that work with families should recognize that emotional security and support from parents is crucial also for academic dimensions and for children’s development as students. So, schools should be more committed in supporting families in this process. This may be achieved by planning or reinforcing existing family support services in order to enhance the family-school relationship. This relationship can be improved by optimizing communication processes between schools and families or by implementing mutual collaboration practices concerning the learning and developmental outcomes and goals (e.g., Epstein, 1995). In order to do so, teachers and other school professionals should also be trained and supervised in this domain.

This systematic literature review also emphasizes the importance of peer relationships in students’ academic outcomes. In this sense, the promotion of social skills, such as, cooperation or assertiveness should be a priority. This can be achieved by implementing universal programs in schools to promote socioemotional skills, focusing on the relationship’s skills domain (e.g., CASEL, 2020). Enabling strong and healthy social relationships between peers, schools are also promoting academic outcomes.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author contributions

PD: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. LV: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. AC: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. RD: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing.

Funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the Horizon Europe Program (grant ref. 101059425).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: socio-emotional security, parents, peers, school engagement, academic achievement

Citation: Dias P, Veríssimo L, Carneiro A and Duarte R (2024) The role of socio-emotional security on school engagement and academic achievement: systematic literature review. Front. Educ. 9:1437297. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1437297

Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 30 September 2024;
Published: 09 October 2024.

Edited by:

Darren Moore, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Reviewed by:

Gretchen Bjornstad, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Emily J. Hernandez, California State University, Los Angeles, United States
Esther Anwuzia, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2024 Dias, Veríssimo, Carneiro and Duarte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Pedro Dias, pedro.mb.dias@uac.pt

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