Parental Involvement and Adolescent Development

Abstract

A series of structural equation models was specified to examine whether parental involvement predicts adolescents' development, controlling on family socioeconomic statuses, family composition, mothers 'work status, race, and gender Three measures of adolescent development and two dimensions of parental involvement were entered in the equations. The measures of development were grade point average, a standardized achievement test score, and an indicator of misbehavior The dimensions of parental involvement were connection (three measures) and regulation (fourmeasures). The study was based on data from high school juniors (N = 362) in two county school systems in North Carolina. Analyses consist of descriptive statistics, Cronbach s alpha, and ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression. The findings provided equivocal support for the hypotheses, which was consistent with reports from earlier research, in which results differed depending on the operational definitions of both parental involvement and outcome measures of adolescent development. Directions for further research were outlined.