Psychological and Behavioral Pathways from Perceived Teacher Support to School Belonging Among Vocational Students: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study.

School belonging is an important indicator of students' school adjustment and psychological well-being, yet it may be particularly vulnerable among students in Chinese secondary vocational education because of early academic tracking and weak vocational identity. This three-wave longitudinal study examined whether perceived teacher support was associated with later school belonging through self-efficacy and learning engagement. Data were collected from first-year secondary vocational students in China. The baseline valid sample included 9116 students, and 1273 students were retained at Time 3, indicating substantial attrition across waves. Structural equation modeling was used to test the serial mediation model, controlling for baseline self-efficacy, learning engagement, and school belonging. The results showed that perceived teacher support at Time 1 was positively associated with self-efficacy at Time 2, which was associated with learning engagement at Time 2. Learning engagement was positively associated with school belonging at Time 3. The direct association between perceived teacher support and school belonging was also significant but modest, and the serial indirect association through self-efficacy and learning engagement was statistically significant but small in magnitude. These findings contribute to the literature by showing that vocational students' school belonging is linked not only to perceived teacher-student support, but also to a gradual psychological-behavioral process involving competence beliefs and learning participation.