Family socioeconomic status and home-based parental involvement: A mediation analysis of parental attitudes and expectations

Abstract

Improving parental involvement is an effective way to narrow the achievement gap between families with low and high socioeconomic status (SES). However, the parental involvement of low-SES families is insufficient. In previous studies, the explanation for the insufficient parental involvement in low-SES families focused on the objective factors, ignoring the differences of subjective factors. Using data from the 2014 China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study examined relationships between family SES and four types of home-based parental involvement (HPI), as well as the mediating effects of parental attitudes (PA) and parental expectations (PE). The results showed that different families have different HPI strategies. Families with high-SES tend to improve parental homework support, parent–child communication, and parental time with children, while those with low-SES tend to improve strict discipline. Our research shows that PA and PE have significant mediating effects, which significantly reduce the HPI of low-SES families, mainly in strict discipline and parent–child communication. Besides, PE’s effects are more significant than PA’s. The findings of the study underline the necessity to focus on the problems of insufficient HPI caused by parental attitudes and expectations in low-SES families. It is of significance to explore comprehensive and effective ways to improve HPI for low-SES families.