Parenting styles and academic achievement of early adolescent girls in Iran: mediating roles of parent involvement and self-regulated learning

Publication Date

3-1-2020

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

European Journal of Psychology of Education

Volume

35

Issue

1

DOI

10.1007/s10212-019-00422-y

First Page

49

Last Page

72

Abstract

Early adolescent girls’ (6th grade) academic achievement was examined using parenting styles as predictors and parent involvement and early adolescents’ self-regulated learning (SRL) as mediators. Participants were 341 early adolescents, 341 mothers, and 20 teachers (N = 702) among all middle schools of Bojnord, Iran―recruited using cluster, multistage sampling. Early adolescents completed the Self-Regulation Questionnaire for School Activities (SRQ), mothers completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Parent Involvement in School Activities Questionnaire (PISAQ), and teachers reported early adolescents’ academic achievement. Authoritative parenting, parent involvement, and SRL altogether explained 36% of the variance in early adolescents’ academic achievement. Authoritative parenting and parent involvement explained 26% of the variance in early adolescents’ SRL. Authoritative parenting was positively related to academic achievement, whereas authoritarian and permissive parenting were not. Authoritative parenting related positively and significantly to early adolescents’ academic achievement through increased SRL and parental involvement in early adolescents’ academic life. Although parental involvement was better than noninvolvement, the positive link between parental involvement and early adolescents’ academic achievement depended on the quality of parenting style. Authoritative parents’ involvement was positively and significantly related to early adolescents’ academic achievement, whereas authoritarian and permissive parents’ involvement were nonsignificant. These findings were contrary to arguments regarding the positive relations between authoritarian parenting and academic achievement in collectivist cultures. Autonomous self-regulatory learning capacities were central to academic achievement for early adolescents in Iran―lending support to the proposition that independence, self-reliance, and individual initiative are necessary for developmental progress in cultures assumed to be collectivistic.

Keywords

Achievement, Authoritative parenting, Culture, Parent involvement, Self-regulated learning

Department

Child and Adolescent Development

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