Family socioeconomic status and adolescents' academic achievement: parenting practice as mediator

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the relations between parenting practice, family socioeconomic status (SES), and adolescents' academic achievement. The mediating effects of two aspects of negative parenting practice, harshness and inconsistency, were also tested. A sample of 2,17 4 12- and 13-year-old adolescents who participated in the second data collection of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) was used. It was found that (1) harshness and inconsistency were associated with adolescents' academic achievement; (2) family SES was significantly related to parental harshness and inconsistency; and (3) parenting practice was not a significant mediator in the link of family SES to mathematics achievement. Family SES and parenting practice had separate significant effects on mathematics achievement. No gender difference was found in the study.