Relationships with teachers and sense of belonging in school: Inter- and intra-individual variations according to adolescent immigrant background

Background Social well-being arises from the fulfillment of the basic need for relatedness. In school, it largely hinges on teacher-student relationships (TSR) and sense of school belonging (SSB), two important levers for educational success, and especially for immigrant-background youths. Aims This study aims to disentangle the stable and time-specific associations between the two dimensions of social well-being and test if these associations vary according to student immigrant status. Sample A cohort of 1070 students (51% female) from first- (22%), second- (29%), and third-plus generations (49%) attending 10 schools located in low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods was followed across three time points (grade 7, grade 9, grade 11). Method Main objectives were tested using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) using Mplus. RI-CLPM disaggregates observed scores into a time-invariant interindividual (stable) and intraindividual (time-specific) components. Results Teacher-student closeness was not associated with SSB at the interindividual level. However, autoregressive, cross-sectional, and longitudinally links were found at the intraindividual level for all students. Teacher-student conflict was associated with lower SSB at the interindividual level. These dimensions were also linked at the intraindividual level for third-plus-generation students only, while time-variant autoregressive associations for SSB were stronger for immigrant students. Conclusions The links between close TSR and SSB are cross-sectional and time-specific for all students. Conflictual TSR and SSB also showed time-specific and longitudinal associations for nonimmigrants only. For immigrants, we observed stronger time-specific carryover effects in terms of SSB. This research calls for yearly intervention efforts promoting social well-being among immigrants and nonimmigrants attending low-SES secondary schools.