SYNOPSISObjective. This research study tested a social cognitive model in which family socioeconomic status (SES) and neighborhood quality predicted parental efficacy, which then predicted the academic and social-emotional adjustment of adolescents through 3 parental behaviors (monitoring, parental involvement, and parent-adolescent communication). Design. The study investigated parental efficacy among a stratified random sample of 929 parents and their adolescent children in the United States. Parents and adolescents provided reports through telephone interviews. Structural equation modeling tested the model fit for the overall sample and for European American (n = 387), African American (n = 259), and Latin American (n = 283) subsamples. Results. The model fit for the overall sample and for each racial or ethnic group. Paths within each model also were examined. For the overall sample, neighborhood quality predicted parental efficacy, parental efficacy predicted reported parental involvement and monitoring, both of which predicted academic and social-emotional adjustment of adolescents, and parent-adolescent communication predicted social-emotional adjustment. Some racial or ethnic differences in paths emerged. Conclusions. Overall, the study supported predictions made by social cognitive theory. Given the link between parental efficacy, parenting behaviors, and adolescent outcomes, 1 important goal of programs for parents of adolescents might be to bolster parental efficacy.
A process-person-context model was used to investigate parental academic involvement with a nationally representative sample of young adolescents. Fathers of young adolescents were less involved at school than were mothers but similarly involved academically at home. Parents of struggling students were involved more in homework assistance and parents of successful students were involved more at school than were other parents. Parent educational level operated as a main effect and as a moderator. High school graduates helped their children with homework more than did parents who were not high school graduates; college-educated parents were involved more at school. Parents' academic involvement at home was associated negatively with young adolescents' academic grades and a standardized achievement test score, but associated positively with young adolescents' school orientation. Parental at-school involvement was associated positively with young adolescents' academic grades but not with either the standardized achievement test score or school orientation.
When the public, elected officials, and child advocates focus on the risks and opportunities inherent in after-school hours, discussions quickly hone in on the benefits that after-school programs might offer. This article points out, however, that parents and children consider a wide variety of options for the after-school hours. Children may be with a parent or relative, they may go to lessons or play sports, they may spend time alone or with friends. For many children, this pattern of activities is reflective of their families' resources and neighborhood surroundings as well as their own needs and interests. Drawing on recent studies, this article documents children's experiences in different settings, discusses the variable quality of after-school programs, and indicates how program participation and exposure to self-care can affect children's adjustment in elementary school.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.