The ABCs of student engagement: What research reveals about its dimensions and impact

By Carmen Pannone, University of Cagliari

Student engagement remains a key factor in educational psychology, closely linked to both academic achievement and subjective well-being (SWB). A recent systematic review and meta-analysis by Wong and colleagues examined how existing studies have defined and measured three types of engagement: affective (or emotional), behavioral, and cognitive engagement, referred to as the ABC approach, and assessed their association with academic achievement and subjective well-being (SWB). The review included 137 correlational studies involving K–12 students and refined the classification of engagement subtypes. Affective engagement was further broken down into relational, school-related, and learning-related categories. Behavioral engagement included participatory and effortful components, while cognitive engagement was classified as motivational and self-regulatory.

A random-effects meta-regression model with robust variance estimation (RVE) and a small sample adjustment synthesized 533 effect sizes from 110 studies on the correlation between student engagement and academic achievement, and 158 effect sizes from 18 studies on the correlation between student engagement and SWB.

The meta-analyses found that student engagement had a moderate-to-large average correlation with academic achievement (ES = +0.33) and SWB (ES = +0.35). Academic achievement was most strongly associated with behavioral engagement (ES = +0.39), followed by cognitive (ES = +0.31) and affective (ES = +0.26) engagement. SWB showed the strongest link with affective engagement (ES = +0.40), followed by cognitive (ES = +0.35) and behavioral (ES = +0.31) engagement. Notably, the seven engagement subtypes moderated the associations with academic achievement and SWB, meaning the effect varied depending on how engagement was operationalized. Multivariate moderation analysis (possible only for academic achievement) showed stronger links with academic achievement in general subjects (ES = +0.36) than in math and science (ES = +0.30) or language and humanities (ES = +0.25). Teacher-reported engagement was more strongly associated with achievement than student-reported engagement (ES = +0.48 vs. +0.29). Engagement also correlated more strongly with grades (ES = +0.38 and +0.33) than with standardized test scores (ES = +0.22) and had a stronger association when achievement was measured in the same academic year (ES = +0.34) rather than a different one (ES = +0.29).

These findings underscore the importance of considering how engagement is defined and measured when evaluating its effects on student outcomes, highlighting the need for more nuanced research and consistent operationalization in future studies.