Civic Engagement and Persistence among Adolescents in China: the Mediating Roles of Student–Classmate Relationships and Growth Mindset

Persistence, a core component of social and emotional skills, is a critical psychological asset that enables adolescents to cope with challenges and pursue long-term developmental goals. Drawing on the China sample of the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES), this study explores the impact of civic engagement on students’ persistence and its underlying mechanisms. The study finds that: (1) civic engagement was positively and significantly associated with students’ persistence; (2) student–classmate relationships and growth mindset each independently mediate the association between civic engagement and persistence; and (3) civic engagement is also associated with persistence through a serial pathway from student–classmate relationships to growth mindset. By leveraging China’s institutionalized and structured civic engagement context, the study provides mechanism-based evidence and helps clarify the contextual boundaries under which civic engagement may translate into non-cognitive developmental strengths. The findings suggest that schools can enhance the developmental returns of civic engagement by cultivating supportive peer networks, fostering a growth mindset, and designing tiered, differentiated civic practice programs.