School Engagement of Youth Investigated by Child Welfare Services: Associations with Academic Achievement and Mental Health

Youth who have experienced abuse, neglect, or are involved with child welfare services are at significant risk of low academic achievement and poor mental health outcomes. The literature on children involved with child welfare services has typically focused on the impact of individual, home, and community factors, but less research has considered the impact of school engagement on maltreated youth outcomes. This study utilized data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being to examine the potential main effect of school engagement on youth academic achievement and mental health in a longitudinal national sample of youth who were the subject of a child welfare investigation. Predicting that school engagement would be especially critical for youth who are removed from home, this study also examined whether school engagement moderated the effect of home placement instability on youth outcomes. Results of hierarchal regression analyses showed that school engagement was an independent predictor of youth internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and academic achievement in reading and math after controlling for initial symptoms/achievement levels and relevant covariates. School engagement did not significantly moderate the association between home instability and youth outcomes. Directions for future research are discussed.