Reciprocal links between student disengagement and teacher-student relationships: A four-wave longitudinal study

High-quality teacher-student relationships are linked to engagement, yet disengaged students may view the relationship less positively, suggesting a potential reciprocal cycle between disengagement and teacher-student relationship quality. This bidirectional process has been theorized but remains underexplored at the within-person level over time.

To examine within-year within-person dynamics in student disengagement and its reciprocal associations with teacher-student relationships across a full academic year.

1031 students (46% females) from Grades 5-12 in Chile (M = 13.74, SD = 2.3).

The study used a four-wave longitudinal design.

A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model showed good fit to the data ( ${\chi }_{\left(231\right)}^2$  = 525.491, p < .001, CFI = .967, RMSEA = .035). The random intercepts for disengagement and teacher-student relationship were significant, indicating between-person stability. Within-person analyses showed relatively high and consistent autoregressive effects for teacher-student relationship (βs = .30-.44) but weak stability for disengagement, and all cross-lagged effects were non-significant (βs = -.13 to .06). Only at Wave 4 did the constructs covary significantly (β = -.33).

Disengagement and teacher-student relationships were relatively stable over time, with modest within-year fluctuations. The absence of significant cross-lagged effects suggests that, within a year timeframe, temporary within-person deviations in disengagement were not followed by systematic changes in teacher-student relationships, nor were within-person improvements followed by subsequent reductions in disengagement. Instead, the constructs showed concurrent covariation only at the end of the school year, consistent with a predominantly stable rather than lagged interplay.