Parental influence on high school students’ mathematics performance in Vietnam

Abstract

This research investigates parental involvement’s effects on high school students’ self-esteem, anxiety, attitudes, and mathematics achievement. The study included 1,337 students from 11 high schools in Hanoi, Vietnam, chosen via convenience sampling. Participants in this research were asked to answer the questionnaires. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was utilized to explore the direct and indirect relationships between parents’ involvement and students’ mathematics performance. Results reveal that parental involvement and expectations positively affect students’ mathematics achievement. Parental involvement negatively impacts students’ attitudes toward mathematics; however, parental expectations positively impact students’ attitudes toward mathematics. Parental involvement decreases students’ negative self-esteem, while parental expectation increases students’ negative self-esteem. Notably, parental involvement helps weaken students’ anxiety in mathematics, but the more anxiety students have, the lower their mathematics achievement. It is recommended that parents and students should have more daily conversations. Parents should not place their excessive expectations and involvement on their children.