Parent Involvement and Student Academic Performance: A Multiple Mediational Analysis

TLDR

Parent involvement is consistently linked to higher academic performance, yet the mechanisms underlying this association remain underexplored. The study investigates whether a child’s perception of cognitive competence and the quality of the student–teacher relationship mediate the effect of parent involvement on academic outcomes. Researchers surveyed 158 seven‑year‑olds, their mothers, and their teachers to assess these variables. Results demonstrate that parent involvement predicts academic performance beyond intelligence, with the child’s perceived cognitive competence fully mediating the relationship to standardized test scores and the student–teacher relationship fully mediating the relationship to teacher‑rated classroom performance.

Abstract

Parent involvement in a child's education is consistently found to be positively associated with a child's academic performance. However, there has been little investigation of the mechanisms that explain this association. The present study examines two potential mechanisms of this association: the child's perception of cognitive competence and the quality of the student–teacher relationship. This study used a sample of 158 seven-year-old participants, their mothers, and their teachers. Results indicated a statistically significant association between parent involvement and a child's academic performance, over and above the impact of the child's intelligence. A multiple mediation model indicated that the child's perception of cognitive competence fully mediated the relation between parent involvement and the child's performance on a standardized achievement test. The quality of the student–teacher relationship fully mediated the relation between parent involvement and teacher ratings of the child's classroom academic performance. Limitations, future research directions, and implications for public policy initiatives are discussed.