The contribution of mothers’ subjective well being, expectations, and parenting in children’s school achievement and in the assessment of parenting involvement

• Published in: Acta colombiana de psicología 2007-01, Vol.10 (2), p.71
• Main Authors: Pedro Solís Cámara R., Marysela Díaz Romero, Perla del Carpio Ovando, Eva Esquivel Flores, Itzel Acosta Gonzalez, de Jesús Torres, Alba
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Parent participation
• ISSN: 0123-9155; 1909-9711

The present study examines the contribution of mothers’ well-being, parenting expectations, and parenting attitudes (BEC) to their children’s school achievement. Its aim was to examine if these contributions may help to explain the unclear relationships between parenting involvement and children’s school achievement. A total of 621 mothers and their children from first, second, and third grade participated in the study. In the sample of children, 322 were females and 299 were males. They were divided in five groups of similar size, each group representing a different city of origin in Mexico. Using cluster analysis, the authors found two groups of mothers with low or high scores on the measures tested. These groups, named low or high BEC, showed differences in the distributions of socioeconomic variables. Based on that finding, six new groups were formed taking into account such socioeconomic influences. It was found that three factors, family income, mothers’ schooling, and BEC were related directly to children’s school achievement, but they were poorly related to measures of parenting involvement, with the exception of promotion of reading in children. The findings of this study suggest that other factors rather than the traditional concept of parental involvement have differential effects on children’s academic achievement.