Parental involvement: Definition and outcomes

The purpose of this study was to seek a definition of the concept of parental involvement and to examine the relationship that may exist between school achievement and specific parental involvement activities. Data were collected from 852 parents of sixth-grade students of both genders. It was found that the involvement of parents in their children's educational process is a complex behavior that may take different forms, not all of which are related to the child's school achievement. The following six types of parental involvement were identified through factor analysis: learning at home, volunteering and decision making at school, and four different parenting tendencies (emphasizing achievement, pressure, control, and personality development). Parenting through emphasis on achievement and through personality development had a positive, statistically significant correlation with actual school achievement, while parenting through pressure had a negative such correlation. A positive correlation was also found between parental volunteering at school and the child's actual school achievement. Learning at home and parenting through control had no significant correlation with achievement. The findings of this study suggest that the six distinct types of behavior that make up parental involvement have differential effects in relation to school achievement.     

Parental attributions and parental involvement

This study examined the existing relation between parental attributions of their child’s achievement, their belief in getting involved in the child’s educational process and their actual behavior regarding this involvement. The participating parents (N = 313) were asked to complete the Parental Attributions Scale and the Parental Involvement Scale. They were also asked to state to what degree they believed that parents in general and they personally as parents should get involved in their children’s educational affairs. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that attributing achievement to internal and controllable factors such as the parent’s own effort influenced positively the strength of the “getting involved” belief. This in turn had a strong effect on actual parental involvement activity.     

Parental involvement in home visiting: Interpersonal predictors and correlates

Parents' commitment to and usage of early intervention are key variables in understanding discrepancies in families' susceptibility to these services. Although the important role of fathers in infant development is widely recognized, early interpersonal predictors of paternal involvement in home‐visiting programs have been understudied. This article aims to fill this gap by regressing parents' postnatal involvement on prenatal partnership satisfaction and quality of the helping relationship in a sample of 124 socially and financially disadvantaged families. Paternal program engagement was predicted by partnership satisfaction whereas the perceived quality of the helping relationship best predicted maternal program engagement, with demographical characteristics controlled. Maternal program engagement also mediated the relationship between partnership satisfaction and paternal program engagement. The results are discussed against the theoretical background.     

Parental and sibling effects in adolescent outcomes

This study examined the differential effects of parenting and sibling influences (and the interaction between the two) in predicting adolescents' problem behaviors. The reliability and validity of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire was also assessed. Subjects were 99 intact families from the San Francisco Bay area, all of whom contained both parents and at least one target child between 10 and 18 years of age still living in the home. Analysis indicated that sibling behavior was a significant predictor of deviant behavior, as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist, even when parenting effects were statistically controlled. Parenting effects had a separate effect on adolescents' positive behaviors. The analysis of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire indicated adequate test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and construct validity. Findings are discussed in terms of the larger literature on socialization on the different ways that siblings and parents influence adolescent outcomes.     

Parental involvement in competitive youth sport settings

ObjectivesBased on ecological systems theory [Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], the purpose of this study was to examine parents’ involvement in competitive youth sport settings.DesignData were collected through two distinct phases of fieldwork. Phase 1 involved longitudinal data collection with four families. Phase 2 involved observations of youth soccer settings.MethodData were collected from four families via individual interviews and audio-diaries and were supplemented through 120 h of observation. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using grounded theory methodology.ResultsParents’ verbal reactions to their children's sport performance behaviors were placed on a continuum moving from more supportive to more controlling comments. These comments were categorized as praise/encouragement, performance contingent feedback, instruction, striking a balance, negative comments, and derogatory comments. Parents experienced empathy in that they perceived sharing the emotions their children felt in sport, and these emotions appeared to change in relation to dynamic game and contextual circumstances. Parents also thought that they possessed knowledge and expertise of sport, which they perceived enabled them to make comments to their children.ConclusionA series of reciprocal and bi-directional relationships were central to parents’ involvement in competitive youth sport.     

Parental meta-emotion structure predicts family and child outcomes

Abstract

Fifty-six families with a preschool child whose parents varied widely in parental marital satisfaction were studied at two time points: at time-I when the children were 5 years old and again at time-2 when the children were 8 years old. At time-1 each parent was separately interviewed about their “meta-emotion structure”, that is, their feelings about their own emotions, and their attitudes, and responses to their children's anger and sadness. Their behaviour during this interview was coded with a meta-emotion coding system. Two meta-emotion variables were studied for each parent, awareness of the parent's own sadness, and parental “coaching” of the child's anger. We termed the high end of these variables an “emotion coaching” (EC) meta-emotion structure. Meta-emotion structure was found to relate to time-1 marital and parent-child interaction. EC-type parents had marriages that were less hostile and they were less negative and more positive during parent-child interaction. Their children showed less evidence of physiological stress, greater ability to focus attention, and had less negative play with their best friends. At time-2 those children showed higher academic achievement in mathematics and reading had fewer behaviour problems, and were physically healthier than non-EC parents. The relations between child outcome and parental meta-emotion structure were not explained by social class variables, emotional expressiveness, or the greater happiness and stability of parents with an EC-type meta-emotion structure.     

Parental involvement and mental health among school-going adolescents in five Caribbean countries

The aim of this study was to assess the association between parental involvement and mental health among adolescents in five Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica and Trinidad, and Tobago. Data were from the cross-sectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) which sampled 10 063 adolescents (mean age 14.3 years, SD = 1.3) from 2009 to 2013. In multivariable logistic regression analyses (adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic status), bullied, having close friends and peer support, and higher levels of parental involvement were negatively associated with loneliness, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in all five countries. In Jamaica, parental involvement was not associated with suicide attempt. Parental involvement interventions for improving mental health among the Caribbean adolescents should consider peer influences.     

Parental involvement, child temperament, and parents' work hours: Differential relations for mothers and fathers

This study examined how child temperament was related to parents' time spent accessible to and interacting with their 2-year-olds. Bivariate analyses indicated that both fathers and mothers spent more time with temperamentally challenging children than easier children on workdays, but fathers spent less time with challenging children than easier children on non-workdays. After accounting for work hours, some associations between temperament and fathers' workday involvement dropped to non-significance. For fathers, work hours also moderated the relation between irregular temperament and workday play. For mothers, work hours moderated the relation between both difficult and irregular temperament and workday interaction. Mothers also spent more time with girls (but not boys) who were temperamentally irregular. Results speak to the influence of child temperament on parenting behavior, and the differential construction of parenting roles as a function of child characteristics and patterns of work.     

Parental involvement and health risk behaviours among school-going adolescents in six African countries

The aim of this study was to assess the association between parental involvement (support and monitoring) and health risk behaviours among adolescents in six African countries. Data were from the cross-sectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) which sampled a total of 16 587 adolescents (mean age 14.6 years, SD = 1.6) from 2009 to 2013. In multivariable regression analyses, adjusted for relevant variables, higher levels of parental involvement were negatively associated with substance use (smoking, other tobacco use, drunkenness and illicit drug use) and violence (being bullied, in a physical fight), injury and truancy. Only high-level parental involvement was associated with use of contraception at most recent sex. Interventions for reducing various health risk behaviours should consider the positive impact of parental involvement.     

Hugs or shrugs: Parental and peer influence on continuity of involvement in sport by female adolescents

The study was designed to examine the influence of significant others (mothers, fathers, and male and female peers) on continuing involvement in sport by adolescent females. Survey data were collected from 376 girls using a forced-choice, self-administered questionnaire. Maintenance of involvement was measured by the proportion of possible years in which the respondents were involved in physical activity within each of three participation contexts (intramural, interschool, and community sport). Several indicators of significant other influence were used. The degree to which involvement in physical activity is maintained is positively related to the source, amount and type of influence received from significant others, and varied by the participation context. Overall, the socializing influence of significant others was able to account for 11% of the variance in intramural activity, 20% of the variance in interschool sport, and 10% of the variance in community-based activity.This study was funded by a grant from Fitness Canada.     

Early father's and mother's involvement and child's later educational outcomes

Background: Few studies have investigated the individual long‐term contributions that mothers and fathers make to their children's schooling. Aims: (1) To explore the role of early father involvement in children's later educational attainment independently of the role of early mother involvement and other confounds, (2) to investigate whether gender and family structure moderate the relationship between father's and mother's involvement and child's educational attainment, and (3) to explore whether the impact of father's involvement depends on the level of mother's involvement. Sample: The study used longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study. The initial sample were those 7,259 cohort members with valid data on mother involvement at age 7, father involvement at age 7, and school‐leaving qualification by age 20. Of those, 3,303 were included in the final analysis. Method: The measures were control variables, structural factors (family structure, sibship size and residential mobility), child factors (emotional/behavioural problems, cognitive ability and academic motivation), and father's and mother's involvement. Results: Father involvement and mother involvement at age 7 independently predicted educational attainment by age 20. The association between parents' involvement and educational attainment was not stronger for sons than for daughters. Father involvement was not more important for educational attainment when mother involvement was low rather than high. Not growing up in intact two‐parent family did not weaken the association between father's or mother's involvement and educational outcomes. Conclusion: Early father involvement can be another protective factor in counteracting risk conditions that might lead to later low attainment levels.     

Accidents happen: Psychological empowerment as a moderator of accident involvement and its outcomes

Research in the occupational safety realm has tended to develop and test models aimed at predicting accident involvement in the workplace, with studies treating accident involvement as the starting point and examining its outcomes being more rare. In this study, we examine the relationship between accident involvement and a series of outcomes drawing upon a learned helplessness theory perspective. Specifically, we predicted that psychological empowerment would moderate the relationship between prior accident involvement and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 392 employees and their 66 supervisors working in an iron and steel manufacturing firm in Southern Turkey, using data collected from employees and their supervisors via four separate surveys. Results suggest that accident involvement was positively related to supervisor‐rated employee withdrawal, production deviance, and sabotage only when psychological empowerment was low. The results illustrate that workplace accidents have indirect costs in the form of higher withdrawal and maladaptive behaviors, and organizations may inoculate employees against some of these outcomes via higher psychological empowerment.     

Parental involvement,adolescents' self‐determined learning and academic achievement in Urban China

Self‐determined learning is essential to academic success. The motivational resources development model argues that parents promote academic success in their children indirectly by nurturing self‐determined learner. In this study, applying a structural equation modelling and using data collected from 8th graders in Zhuhai, China (n = 1009) in 2012, we aim to answer 2 research questions: (a) What forms of parental involvement are highly correlated with self‐determined learning and (b) Can self‐determined learning fully mediate the relationship between parental involvement and students' academic performance? We find that parental leisure involvement is positively and significantly associated with the development of self‐determined learning, which in turn is significantly and positively correlated with academic achievement. Parental provision of structure or parental academic assistance is not significantly associated with students' self‐regulation and students' academic achievement.     

Parental involvement in children's learning: Comparing parents of children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The present study examined involvement in children's learning among parents of 101 children between 8 and 12 years of age (53 parents of children with ADHD, 48 parents of children without ADHD). Compared to parents of children without ADHD, parents of children with ADHD reported lower self-efficacy in their ability to help their children, felt less welcome and supported by their children's schools and teachers, and perceived less time and energy for involvement in their children's academic lives. Mothers of children with and without ADHD reported similar types and levels of involvement behaviors in the home. Fathers of children with ADHD reported being more disengaged from their children's learning and using more coercive and punitive interactions regarding their children's achievement compared to fathers of children without ADHD. These findings underscore the difficulties in parent-supported learning practices and home-school collaboration initiatives faced by parents of children with ADHD and educators alike. Implications for school psychology practice are discussed.     

Language: Definition and Metaphor

This paper argues that there is an urgent need for philosophers to convince educationalists of the practical value and the necessity of the philosophical task, particularly analysis. The nature of philosophical analysis is outlined in terms of the criteria of clarity, coherence, completeness and compatibility, which, it is argued, in turn lead to a degree of commonality. The tendency to substitute metaphor or analogy for analysis in argument is then considered, with illustrative reference to the idea of teaching as a craft. In the final section, it is suggested that resort to analogy is merely one example of a more general tendency to distance ourselves from the task of coming to grips with what is actually our field of interest, namely education.     

Parent involvement,expectancy values,and STEM outcomes among underrepresented adolescents

Racial and ethnic achievement gaps contribute to the lack of underrepresented minorities in STEM-related careers. This research is grounded in the expectancy-value model of achievement motivation which posits that motivation is influenced by social-cognitive variables such as self-efficacy and beliefs about the usefulness or utility of the task. These social-cognitive variables (self-beliefs and task beliefs), in turn, are influenced by numerous ecological factors such as parental involvement. Parent involvement can promote children’s self-efficacy and task beliefs which is important for STEM interest and persistence. This study utilized data from the High School Longitudinal Study: 2009 (HLS: 2009) to examine links among parent involvement and underrepresented students’ STEM self-efficacy, utility, interest and achievement. Concurrent and longitudinal models conducted in MPlus tested whether parent involvement in 9th grade predicted STEM interest and achievement directly and indirectly via self-efficacy and utility. Concurrent models showed that parent involvement in STEM was significantly related to adolescents’ STEM self-efficacy which in turn was significantly related to STEM interest and achievement. Longitudinal models showed that parents’ STEM involvement in 9th grade predicted adolescents’ STEM efficacy in 11th grade which in turn predicted adolescents’ cumulative GPA in STEM courses. Parent involvement in STEM was more strongly and consistently linked to self-efficacy than to utility. These results suggest that parent involvement in STEM helps adolescents to feel more confident in their STEM abilities but it does not necessarily contribute to adolescents’ STEM utility values.

     

Ethnicity differences in child and parental outcomes following involvement the PACE program

This study investigated ethnic differences in the extent to which engagement (i.e., attendance and quality of participation) in the PACE (Parenting our Children to Excellence) program predicted positive child and parent outcomes. PACE is an 8-week preventive intervention aimed at parents of preschool children. The study investigated the relation of engagement to outcomes in an ethnically diverse sample of 298 African American and 280 European American parents. Overall results demonstrated that engagement in PACE significantly improved child and parent outcomes for both African American and European American participants. Some improvements were evident at post-assessment already and were maintained or became stronger at a one-year follow-up assessment, whereas others only became evident at follow-up. Specifically, results revealed that attendance in PACE significantly improved child coping competence and parenting stress for both the African American and European American samples. PACE attendance also significantly improved child behavior problems, parental satisfaction and parental efficacy for the European American sample. Findings indicate that PACE is a promising intervention for parents of African American and Caucasian preschoolers; although further research and program refinement is necessary in order to understand the mechanisms with the PACE intervention that seem to vary for African American compared to Caucasian families.     

Psychosocial factors in outcomes of heart surgery: the impact of religious involvement and depressive symptoms.

This article reports a prospective study of religiousness and recovery from heart surgery. Religiousness and other psychosocial factors were assessed in 142 patients about a week prior to surgery. Those with stronger religious beliefs subsequently had fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, the former effect mediating the latter. Attendance at religious services was unrelated to complications but predicted longer hospitalizations. Prayer was not related to recovery. Depressive symptoms were associated with longer hospital stays. Dispositional optimism, trait hostility, and social support were unrelated to outcomes. Effects of religious beliefs and attendance were stronger among women than men and were independent of biomedical and other psychosocial predictors. These findings encourage further examination of differential health effects of the various elements of religiousness.