Does income moderate the adverse childhood experiences – School engagement relationship?

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact adolescent school engagement, a key predictor of academic achievement, persistence, and reduced dropout risk. But the complex factors driving school disengagement remain unclear. Using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health, which includes parent ratings of early to middle adolescents aged 10–17, we examined whether family income moderates the relationship between ACEs and school engagement. We hypothesized that low-income students would show a stronger negative relationship between ACEs and school engagement when compared to students from high income families. Contrary to expectations, as ACEs increased, school engagement declined across all income groups – most notably among high-income students. Low-income students just above the poverty line showed the lowest engagement overall, regardless of ACEs. Interestingly, students below the poverty line exhibited mixed outcomes and, in some cases, higher engagement than their low- and middle-income peers. Implications for researchers and educators are discussed.