Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Strategies of Parental Involvement in Adolescents’ Education and Extracurricular Activities

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Different parental strategies in education are bound to produce various effects: not all of these strategies are equally productive in their application. At the same time, the impact of parental involvement in general education on their children’s extracurricular activities has not been thoroughly studied. This article attempts to fill this gap by analyzing the relationship between strategies of parental involvement in education and adolescents’ participation in extracurricular activities. The data source for this study were parents whose children attend general education institutions (N = 3,887; Mage of children = 12.4, SD = 3.1; 55.6% female). A latent class analysis identified three categories of parental participation in education: “Intrusive”, “Supervisory”, and “Detached”. Each category showed different patterns of involvement from primary to high school, distinguished by the type of extracurricular participation encouraged by parents. In primary school, children of “Intrusive” parents attended the highest number of extracurricular activities. In secondary school, they attended fewer activities compared to the children of “Supervisory” parents. Children of “Supervisory” parents often chose to participate in activities on their own, and continued to attend the selected activity, or change activity on their own initiative. The children of “Detached” parents were less involved in extracurricular activities in primary school. In some cases, they chose their own extracurricular activities as they grew older. The study demonstrates that parental involvement is related to adolescents’ participation in extracurricular activities. Parents’ strategies should be considered instrumental as they produce a variety of different outcomes, depending upon the adolescents’ age and type of activities. The identified strategies may serve as a basis for recommendations for development of parental competencies, consultations, and family education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2001). Schools, achievement, and inequality: a seasonal perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(2), 171–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, M. S. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72(2), 167–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, I. G., & Jæger, M. M. (2015). Cultural capital in context: Heterogeneous returns to cultural capital across schooling environments. Social Science Research, 50, 177–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. C., Funk, J. B., Elliott, R., & Smith, P. H. (2003). Parental support and pressure and children’s extracurricular activities: Relationships with amount of involvement and affective experience of participation. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24(2), 241–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashbourne, D., & Andres, L. (2015). Athletics, music, languages, and leadership: how parents influence the extracurricular activities of their children. Canadian Journal of Education, 38(2), 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashbourne, D. (2013). Education, beliefs, and experiences: examining the role of parents in children’s extracurricular activity participation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Canada: University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

  • Bartko, W. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2003). Adolescent participation in structured and unstructured activities: a person-oriented analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(4), 233–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beiswenger, K. L., & Grolnick, W. S. (2010). Interpersonal and intrapersonal factors associated with autonomous motivation in adolescents’ after-school activities. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(3), 369–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesters, J., & Smith, J. (2015). Social capital and aspirations for educational attainment: a cross-national comparison of Australia and Germany. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(7), 932–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, W. A., Maccoby, E. E., Steinberg, L., Hetherington, E. M., & Bornstein, M. H. (2000). Contemporary research on parenting: the case for nature and nurture. American Psychologist, 55(2), 218–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derrick-Lewis, S. M. (2001). Parental involvement typologies as related to student achievement. Electronic Theses and Dissertations, paper 71. http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/71.

  • Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (2003). The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: a literature review. London: Department of Education and Skills.

  • Downey, B. D., von Hippel, P. T., & Broh, B. A. (2004). Are schools the great equalizer? cognitive inequality during the summer months and the school year. American Sociological Review, 69(5), 613–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. S., Kinney, D. A., & Hofferth, S. L. (2003). Parental ideologies and children’s after-school activities. American Behavioral Scientist, 46(10), 1359–1386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., Stone, M., & Hunt, J. (2003). Extracurricular activities and adolescent development. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 865–889.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El Nokali, N. E., Bachman, H. J., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2010). Parent involvement and children’s academic and social development in elementary school. Child Development, 81(3), 988–1005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, J. (2007). Connections count: improving family and community involvement in secondary schools. Principal Leadership, 8(2), 16–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: a meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fawcett, L. M., Garton, A. F., & Dandy, J. (2009). Role of motivation, self-efficacy and parent support in adolescent structured leisure activity participation. Australian Journal of Psychology, 61(3), 175–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flecha, R., & Soler, M. (2013). Turning difficulties into possibilities: Engaging 10 Roma families and students in school through dialogic learning. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43(4), 451–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2013.819068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, A. C., Elder, G. H., & Mekos, D. (2000). Parental influences on adolescent involvement in community activities. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10(1), 29–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodall, J., & Vorhaus, J. (2011). Review of best practice in parental engagement. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Janet_Goodall/publication/265673055_Review_of_best_practice_in_parental_engagement/links/54abffff0cf2ce2df6692e19/Review-of-best-practice-in-parental-engagement.pdf.

  • Gordon, M. S., & Cui, M. (2012). The effect of school-specific parenting processes on academic achievement in adolescence and young adulthood. Family Relations, 61(5), 728–741. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00733.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goshin, M. E., & Mertsalova, T. A. (2018). Types of parental involvement in education and students’ academic results. Voprosy obrazovaniya/Educational Studies Moscow, 3, 68–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goshin, M. E., Mertsalova, T. A., & Gruzdev, I. A. (2019). Types of parental involvement in children’s schooling. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, 2, 282–303. https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2019.2.13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guest, A., & Schneider, B. (2003). Adolescents’ extracurricular participation in context: the mediating effects of schools, communities, and identity. Sociology of Education, 76(2), 89–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parental involvement in middle school: a meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 740–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, S. L., Baldwin, C. K., & Caldwell, L. L. (2003). Differentiating parent practices related to adolescent behavior in the free time context. Journal of Leisure Research, 35(4), 396–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konner, M. (2011). The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 960 p.

  • Lareau, A., & Weininger, E. (2008). Time, work, and family life: reconceptualizing gendered time patterns through the case of children’s organized activities. Sociological Forum, 23(3), 419–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linse, C. T. (2011). Creating taxonomies to improve school-home connections with families of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Education and Urban Society, 43, 651–670. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124510380908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthar, S., Shoum, K., & Brown, P. (2006). Extracurricular involvement among affluent youth: a scapegoat for ubiquitous achievement pressures? Developmental Psychology, 42, 583–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLellan, J. A., & Youniss, J. (2003). Two systems of youth service: determinants of voluntary and required youth community service. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 47–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mertsalova, T. A., & Goshin, M. E. (2015). Parental involvement in management… and more. People’s Education, 8, 78–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: multilevel perspectives. Annual Review Psychology, 56, 365–392.

  • Polivanova, K. N. (2015). Modern parents as the subject for research. Psychological Science and Education, 3, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan Dunn, C., Dorsch, T. E., King, M. Q., & Rothlisberger, K. J. (2016). The impact of family financial investment on perceived parent pressure and child enjoyment and commitment in organized youth sport. Family Relations, 65(2), 287–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Miguel, P. A., Leo, F. M., Sánchez-Oliva, D., Amado, D., & García-Calvo, T. (2013). The importance of parents’ behavior in their children’s enjoyment and motivation in sports. Journal of Human Kinetics, 36(1), 169–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seginer, R. (2006). Parents’ educational involvement: a developmental ecological perspective. Parenting: Science and Practice, 6, 1–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C. S. (2006). Parents’ messages about the role of extracurricular and unstructured leisure activities: adolescents’ perceptions. Journal of Leisure Research, 38(3), 398–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, S. M., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2007) Conjoint behavioral consultation: Promoting family-school connections and interventions. New York, NY: Springer US.

  • Sieben, S., & Lechner, C. M. (2019). Measuring cultural capital through the number of books in the household. Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences, 2, 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42409-018-0006-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpkins, S. D., Vest, A. E., Dawes, N. P., & Neuman, K. I. (2010). Dynamic relations between parents’ behaviors and children’s motivational beliefs in sports and music. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10(2), 97–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sjödin, D., & Roman, C. (2018). Family practises among Swedish parents: Extracurricular activities and social class. European Societies: The Official Journal of the European Sociological Association, 20(5), 764–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spera, C. (2005). A review of the relationship among parenting practices, parenting styles, and adolescent school achievement. Educational Psychology Review, 17(2), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-005-3950-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L. (2000). The family at adolescence: transition and transformation. Journal of Adolescent Health, 27, 170–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stirrup, J., Duncombe, R., & Sandford, R. (2015). “Intensive mothering” in the early years: the cultivation and consolidation of (physical) capital. Sport, Education and Society, 20(1), 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. A., & Kibowski, F. (2016), Latent class analysis and latent profile analysis. In Jason L. A., & Glenwick D. S. (Eds). Handbook of Methodological Approaches to Community-Based Research: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods. (pp. 143–153). N.Y.: Oxford University Press.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tatyana Mertsalova, a leading expert at Pinsky Centre of General and Extracurricular Education, Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation for advice on data analysis and interpretation of results.

Authors’ Contributions

M.G. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination and drafted the manuscript; S.K., D.G. and D.D. participated in the design and interpretation of the data; M.G., D.D., and S.K. participated in the design and coordination of the study and performed the measurement; M.G., D.G. and D.D. participated in the design of the study and performed the statistical analysis; S.K. and D.G. conceived of the study, and participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The article was prepared within the framework of the HSE University Basic Research Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pinsky Centre of General and Extracurricular Education, Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Mikhail Goshin & Sergey Kosaretsky

  2. Center for Socio-Cultural Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Dmitrii Dubrov & Dmitry Grigoryev

Authors
  1. Mikhail Goshin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dmitrii Dubrov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sergey Kosaretsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dmitry Grigoryev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mikhail Goshin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All participants were informed about the study procedure, and passive consent was obtained from the parents of the adolescents.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goshin, M., Dubrov, D., Kosaretsky, S. et al. The Strategies of Parental Involvement in Adolescents’ Education and Extracurricular Activities. J Youth Adolescence 50, 906–920 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01399-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01399-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation