Determinants of Parental Engagement in Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic Within the Chilean Psychosocial Family Context

Background/Objectives: Parental engagement plays a vital role in children's development and well-being, influencing their health, learning outcomes, and major life decisions. This involvement is fostered through trusting relationships between families and professionals and can be strengthened by supportive interventions such as home visits and integrated therapies. However, its level can be influenced by various factors, including household structure, parental education, school-family communication, and broader social conditions such as migration. This study examines how these variables are associated with parental engagement in the educational process in Chile during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period in which the country implemented some of the most stringent public health measures in Latin America, including extended quarantines and mobility restrictions, which were gradually relaxed as vaccination efforts progressed. 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 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.