Self-perception and relationship quality as mediators of father's school-specific involvement and adolescent's academic achievement

Abstract

Despite a growing body of research suggesting fathers play an integral role in the lives of their children, less is known about father's involvement in their early adolescent's schooling. Even less is known about the mechanisms through which father's involvement influences early adolescent's academic success. The current study explores two characteristically different mechanisms as mediators of the association between father's involvement and adolescent's academic achievement: self-perception, and father-adolescent relationship quality. Results from structural equation modeling suggested differential mediating effects for each model, supporting both partial and full mediation. Findings suggested that how adolescents feel about themselves and their own abilities, as well as the quality of the relationship that fathers maintain with them has meaningful implications relating to how well they perform academically. Such findings further highlight the need for an exploration of differentiated conceptualizations of the processes underlying the association between father's school-specific involvement and adolescent's academic achievement.