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Parental Self-efficacy in School-related Performance: Development and Association with Academic Achievement during Secondary School

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Abstract

The present study examined the development of perceived parental self-efficacy in school-related performance (PPSE-School; i.e., parents’ beliefs in their capabilities to positively affect their children’s academic experience) during secondary school as well as its longitudinal associations with adolescents’ academic achievement at the end of secondary school. Participants were 482 (53.9% boys) Italian adolescents and their parents (376 mothers; 106 fathers). PPSE-School was measured across three-time points over 3 years, when adolescents attended grades six (T1), seven (T2), and eight (T3) of secondary school. Adolescents’ school grades were collected at the beginning and the end of secondary school. Second Order Latent Growth Curve Modeling indicated a linear decrease in PPSE-School over the transition to secondary school. The slope of PPSE-School positively predicted students’ academic achievement in grade eight while controlling for grade six academic achievement, students’ gender, socio-economic status, and the type of school. The study implications are discussed.

Highlights

  • This study aims at examining the development of parental self-efficacy during secondary school.

  • Latent curve modeling indicated a linear decrease in parental self-efficacy.

  • Higher increases in parental self-efficacy predicted higher academic performance.

  • Results support the importance of parents’ beliefs in helping students succeed.

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Funding

This research was supported by grants from the Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation to Albert Bandura, the Ministero dell’Istruzione dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) to Gian Vittorio Caprara, and from Sapienza University of Rome (Ateneo Research) to Concetta Pastorelli.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Sciences, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy

    Carolina Lunetti

  2. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Concetta Pastorelli, Antonio Zuffianò, Maria Gerbino, Eriona Thartori, Ainzara Favini, Emanuele Basili, Flavia Cirimele & Chiara Remondi

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  1. Carolina Lunetti
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  2. Concetta Pastorelli
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  3. Antonio Zuffianò
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Correspondence to Carolina Lunetti.

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IRB Approval

This study was conducted in Italy between 1990 and 2008 and consisted of free and unconstrained parent and children questionnaires. According to the regulations in Italy, there was no requirement for an ethics committee approval when the study was conducted in the years 1990-2000. However, the study fully complied with the Italian law on Privacy (Law December 31st, 1996, n. 675) and the Ethical Code of Conduct for Psychologists of the Italian Society for Psychology and the Ethical standards of the American Psychological Association. For later assessments, IRB was obtained in 2008, when the Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome introduced it.

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Lunetti, C., Pastorelli, C., Zuffianò, A. et al. Parental Self-efficacy in School-related Performance: Development and Association with Academic Achievement during Secondary School. J Child Fam Stud 33, 849–862 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02752-4

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