The interplay of perceived stress, self-determination and school engagement in adolescence

Currently, many societies are placing a greater onus on academic achievement–resulting in higher levels of stress being observed among adolescent students. Stress can have detrimental repercussions on adolescents’ health and is also associated with anxiety and depression. However, since less is known about how high stress levels affect school engagement, this study examined the interplay of perceived stress and school engagement in a large sample of seventh and eighth grade students (N = 1088; MAge = 13.7) in secondary schools in Brandenburg, Germany. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), this study also examined if perceived autonomy, relatedness, and competence mediated the association between stress and school engagement in order to identify possible strategies for intervention and prevention. Latent structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test for the associations between stress, self-determination, and school engagement. Results showed that self-determination acted as a full mediator in the negative association between stress and school engagement. These results suggest that supporting students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence could be an effective starting point for prevention and intervention of stress and its negative association with school engagement. Consequently, SDT has strong implications for both school psychologists as well as teachers.