# Agency of students participating in extracurricular activities and their interaction with parents in the context of the pandemic

## TL;DR

This study explores how students' agency and interactions with parents during the pandemic are influenced by different parenting strategies.

## Contribution

The paper introduces the concepts of 'cooperative agency' and 'autonomous agency' linked to parental involvement styles during the pandemic.

## Key findings

- Joint activities with parents are linked to 'cooperative agency' in children.
- Freedom and support from parents correlate with 'autonomous agency' in children.
- Lack of interaction or strict control from parents hinders adaptation during crises.

## Abstract

This article investigates the relationships between strategies of parental involvement in education and manifestations of children’s agency during the pandemic seen as a potentially harmful and stressful context, requiring agency for sustaining well-being to a greater extent than before COVID-19. Data for the study were obtained through an online survey of students engaged in extracurricular activities, about the transition to distance learning and self-isolation during the pandemic. To elucidate the understanding of differences among respondents regarding changes in their interaction with parents, latent profile analysis was applied. It was found that joint activity between children and parents can be associated with the formation of a special type of agency, which is called ‘cooperative agency’, while parents providing children with freedom and facilitating support are associated with other behavioral characteristics of the child, i.e., ‘autonomous agency’. At the same time, the absence of interaction with parents, as well as parents’ display of strict control, do not contribute to successful adaptation to crisis conditions.