The Protective Effects of Parents' Positive Beliefs On the Association Between Parenting Stress and Children's Academic Achievement

Research indicates that parent stress is inversely related to children’s academic achievement. The present study examines the protective effect of parents’ positive beliefs about their children, specifically warmth, pride, and child-directed optimism (CDO), on this association.   

Given that positive beliefs act as a protective factor in the relation between stress and depression (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and that parents’ optimism moderates the association between parent well-being and parent-child relationship quality among families with children with developmental disabilities (Paczkowski & Baker, 2008), we hypothesized that (1) parents’ positive beliefs about their children will be inversely associated with parenting stress among families living in poverty, and that (2) positive beliefs will moderate the association between parenting stress and child academic achievement.

Participants were 78 caregiver-child dyads who were recruited from WIC offices in the Boston area; 95% of caregivers were biological mothers and more than half (53%) had immigrated to the United States. Children (60% female) were 36 to 72 months of age (M = 52 months) and caregivers were 16 to 58 years old (M = 26 years). At Time 1, parents completed the Parenting Stress Index and a qualitative interview about their relationship with their children; children’s IQ was assessed with the Woodcock-Johnson-III Test of Cognitive Abilities and Achievement (WJ-III). At Time 2, 9-12 months later, Broad Reading (BR) and Global Achievement (GA) were evaluated with the WJ-III.                                  

The qualitative interviews were coded for expressions of warmth, pride, and CDO using a scale derived from the Parent-Child Interaction Rating System (Belsky et al. 1995). Preliminary analysis includes 22 participants; coded interview data for all 78 participants will be presented.

Partial correlations indicated that parents’ positive beliefs about their children were negatively associated with parenting stress; higher warmth (r=-.34) and pride (r=-.29), but not CDO (r=-.05), were associated with lower overall parenting stress. Results confirmed previous findings in that, controlling for IQ at Time 1, higher parenting stress was inversely associated with academic outcomes, including GA (r=-.21) and BR (r=-.58). Additionally, parents’ positive beliefs exhibited direct effects on child academic outcomes: pride was positively associated with BR (r=.28) and CDO was positively associated with GA (r=.22), but parental warmth was associated with neither (r=.13 and r=.10, respectively). Moderation analyses will be conducted and presented.

Parents’ positive beliefs appear to have a substantial effect on parenting stress and children’s academic achievement; targeting parents’ beliefs about their children could enhance preventative parenting programs.