Educational Distrust and School Legitimacy: A Systematic Review of the Social Distrust Index

This project contains the protocol for a systematic review examining interpersonal and institutional distrust in educational systems and its implications for school legitimacy and educational outcomes. The review follows the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and aims to identify, synthesize, and analyze empirical research on distrust-related dynamics in educational contexts, including teacher–student relationships, school climate, institutional legitimacy, and structural inequalities. The study includes empirical studies published between 2000 and 2025 and indexed in major academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, PsycINFO, Dialnet, and SciELO). The review focuses on research that operationalizes trust or distrust in educational contexts and examines its relationship with educational outcomes such as engagement, academic achievement, school climate, or institutional legitimacy. The protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework to ensure transparency and reproducibility of the review process.