Determinants of Parental Engagement in Education Within the Chilean Psychosocial Family Context

Background/Objectives: Parental engagement is critical to child development and well-being, as it influences children's health, learning and key life decisions. This engagement is strengthened through trusting relationships between families and professionals and is enhanced by interventions such as home visits and co-occurring therapies. However, factors such as household structure, educational level, school-family communication and social con-ditions such as migration can affect its level. This study analyzes how these variables are related to the degree of parental engagement in the educational process. Methods: This study analyzes 1432 responses from adults in Chile on the International COVID-19 Impact on Parental Engagement Study, using univariate and multivariate analysis to psychometrically validate the scale used, and identifying significant relationships between parental engagement factors and sample characteristics using nonparametric statistical methods. Results: A factor analysis was performed that identified two dimensions (social learning for parenting and parenting in homeschooling) from 8 valid items, with good fit and validity indicators, revealing significant associations between social learning for parenting and variables such as family structure and school-home communication on the learning plan, and parental engagement and the variables child´s age, school-home communication on the learning plan and parental engagement time Conclusions: This study demonstrates that parental involvement in learning at home is a relational social process conditioned by school-family communication, which requires co-responsible and inclusive educational approaches to promote equity.