Psychological Development and Education ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1): 67-76.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.01.08

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Harsh Parenting and Adolescents' Academic Achievement: A Moderated Mediation Model

WANG Mingzhong, WANG Jing, WANG Baoying, QU Xiqian, XIN Fukang   

  1. Faculty of Education, Qufu 273165
  • Published:2020-02-05

Abstract: Substantial literature has documented the important influence of individual psychological factors and campus factors on individuals' academic achievement. However, there exists scanty research on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between parenting practices and adolescent academic achievement. This study examined the mediating role of effortful control on the relation between harsh parenting in the context of negative parental attribution and adolescents' academic achievement by testing a moderated mediating model. With convenience sampling method, the Harsh Parenting Questionnaire, the Effortful Control Subscale of Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ) and The Child-Responsible Attribution Subscale of the Parent Cognition Scale were administered to 880 junior high school students (mean age=13.57 years, SD=0.99). At the end of the semester, we obtained their grades in Chinese, Mathematics and English through their teacher in charge of every class as indicators of academic achievement. Results demonstrated that:(1) Harsh parenting was significantly and negatively associated with academic achievement; (2) Effortful control partially mediated the relationship between harsh parenting and academic achievement; (3) Parental negative attribution could moderate the mediated path via effortful control, such that this indirect effect was much stronger for adolescents with high levels of parental negative attribution relative to those with low levels of parental negative attribution. Therefore, correcting parental negative parenting behaviors and negative parental attribution patterns and improving children's effortful control will be conducive to adolescents' academic achievement.

Key words: harsh parenting, effortful control, parental negative attribution, academic achievement, adolescents

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