Parental Warmth and Parent Involvement: Their Relationships to Academic Achievement and Behavior Problems in School and Related Gender Effects

Abstract

Parent involvement and parental warmth have been extensively studied in the global literature. However, limited research has been conducted on parent involvement and parental warmth in India. This study examined parental warmth and parent involvement as predictors of academic achievement and behavior problems. Because behavior problems scores differed gender, gender differences om these relationships were explored. Study questions were framed in terms of Epstein’s theory of school, family, and community partnerships and Rohner’s parental acceptance-rejection theory. A sample of Indian seventh through tenth graders gave ratings of parental warmth and parent involvement. Their teachers gave ratings of academic achievement and behavior problems. Results showed that parental warmth and parent involvement were significant predictors of academic achievement and behavior problems for boys. Parental warmth was a significant predictor of academic achievement and behavior problems for girls. The results regarding parental warmth supported parental acceptance-rejection theory. Results suggested the need to increase the awareness of the importance of parent involvement for children in India and to continue to support parents in maintaining warm and accepting relationships with their children.