Positive Youth Development Through Student Engagement: Associations with Well-Being

Abstract

High engagement in studies is an important strength of adolescents, which promotes positive development, successful educational and occupational transitions, and overall well-being. This chapter reviews relevant evidence on students’ positive development through student engagement during a major transition to higher education and employment. In addition, different pathways of student engagement and the role of personal (e.g., gender, performance) and contextual antecedents (e.g., parenting styles, autonomy support) of engagement are discussed. The review showed that the positive continuum of engagement in studies and work is often associated with indicators of well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, career satisfaction), and negatively associated with ill-health (e.g., burnout, depressive symptoms) during the transition to higher education/work. The chapter concludes that student engagement facilitates late adolescents’ positive development in multiple ways and enhances their future career development.