Parental Involvement and African American and European American Adolescents' Academic, Behavioral, and Emotional Development in Secondary School

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of parental involvement across middle and high school, and how these trajectories related to adolescents’ academic, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. In addition, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences in longitudinal associations and the potential moderating role of parental warmth were assessed. Longitudinal growth modeling technique was used to describe trajectories of different types of parental involvement and adolescent outcomes over 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (mean ages = 12.9, 14.3, and 17.2 years, respectively) on an ethnically and economically diverse sample of 1,400 adolescents (51% female, 56% African American, 39% European American, 5% others). Each aspect of parental involvement contributed differentially but significantly to adolescent outcomes. Finally, parental warmth moderated the associations between providing structure at home and adolescent grade point average and problem behavior.