The strong link between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s success in school is well established. However, mechanisms that underpin this association remain a major issue in current research on social inequality. Using data from the Families in Germany Study and structural equation modelling, this study demonstrates that parenting styles and child behavioural problems explain, in part, the association between parental SES and child school grades for mathematics and German between the ages of 9 and 10. We found that parents with a low SES are more likely to be inconsistent in their parenting and to use psychological control with their children more often, these two factors being linked to child behavioural problems. Adverse parenting and behavioural problems are, in turn, associated with low school grades. Our findings also show that behavioural problems in children are associated with lower school grades independent of parenting style. These findings suggest that parenting styles and child behavioural problems and their interplay may be potential pathways that underpin the influence of parental SES on children’s school achievement.

中文翻译：

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教育不平等的再现——养育子女和儿童行为问题重要吗？

父母的社会经济地位 (SES) 与孩子在学校的成功之间有着密切的联系。然而，支撑这种关联的机制仍然是当前社会不平等研究中的一个主要问题。本研究使用来自德国家庭研究的数据和结构方程模型，表明养育方式和儿童行为问题在一定程度上解释了父母社会经济地位与 9 至 10 岁儿童数学和德语学校成绩之间的关联。我们研究发现，社会经济地位低的父母更有可能在育儿方面不一致，并且更频繁地对孩子进行心理控制，这两个因素与孩子的行为问题有关。反过来，不良养育和行为问题与低年级有关。我们的研究结果还表明，儿童的行为问题与低年级有关，而与教养方式无关。这些发现表明，养育方式和儿童行为问题及其相互作用可能是支持父母社会经济地位对儿童学业成绩影响的潜在途径。