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Vol.14, No.2, 2023 1780 

 

 

 

 

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Per-

ceived Social Support and Student Academic 

Achievement: The Mediating Role of School Engage-

ment 

By Wu, J., Fu, H., & Zhang, Y. 
Correspondence to: Hailun Fu, Shandong Normal University, Shandong, China. 

E-mail: f_hailun@163.com 

CADEMIC achievement is a crucial indicator of students’ cognitive 

ability and learning outcomes and is influenced by factors such as per-

ceived social support and student school engagement. Prior studies have ad-

dressed the joint effects of the two factors on student academic achievement. 

Nevertheless, no specific analysis has been conducted on the relationship be-

tween perceived social support and student academic performance or poten-

tial mediating and moderating effects on this relationship. This meta-analysis 

included 78 effect sizes extracted from 41 studies and examined their validity 

and the mediating effect of student school engagement as well as other rele-

vant moderating effects.  

Research findings indicate that: 
 Perceived social support has a positive effect on student academic achievement, de-

spite the effect size being modest. The correlation between overall perceived social 

support and student academic performance is stronger than that between perceived 

teacher support, parental support, peer support and student academic achievement, 

respectively. In addition, perceived social support and its above subdivisions signif-

icantly and positively predict student school engagement, with a greater effect on 

student school engagement than on student academic achievement. 

 The academic phase can only moderate the relation between the perceived teacher 

support and student academic performance, while academic achievement indicators 

can moderate the relations of perceived social support and its subdivisions with stu-

dent academic achievement. Economic conditions and cultural background have no 

significant moderating effect on the relationships of perceived social support and its 

subdivisions with student academic performance. 

 The direct influences of perceived social support and its subdivisions on student ac-

ademic achievement are all significantly positive, which are partially mediated by 

student school engagement. This partial mediating effect is remarkable among mid-

dle school students, but insignificant among high school students.  

This study drew on the meta-analysis structural equation model theory 

and employed the Web MASEM application to test the mediating effect of 

student school engagement, which is the first experiment of the application. 

The experiment provides educators with scientific evidence and novel per-

A 

mailto:f_hailun@163.com


 

Vol.14, No.2, 2023 1781 

spectives for rational considerations of the relationship between social re-

sources and student academic development and for deeper explorations of ef-

fective educational paths to improving student academic achievement. 

 

Source: Advances in Psychological Science, 2023; 31(4):552-569. 


