Given the impact of class cohesion on students' learning, it's relevant to explore its relationship with other affective and cognitive variables. This study explored the connections between class cohesion, engagement, disruptive behaviors, and perceived academic performance in physical education. This cross-sectional study design involved 853 students, 413 boys (M = 14.54, SD = 1.35) and 440 girls (M = 14.32; SD = 1.44) from nine secondary schools in Spain. Multilevel structural equation modeling was conducted. The results showed that task cohesion was positively related with engagement, and negatively related to disruptive behaviors at the student level and class level. Additionally, engagement and disruptive behaviors were positively and negatively related, respectively, to perceived academic performance in physical education at both levels. Finally, engagement mediated between task cohesion and perceived academic performance in physical education only at the student level. It appears important to promote class cohesion, which could help students engagement during classes and, consequently, improve their academic performance.
Llanos-Muñoz et al. (Thu,) studied this question.