Abstract
The present study explored the direct and indirect (serial multiple mediation of math self-efficacy and math enjoyment) effects of perceived parental math support on middle school students’ math engagement. A total of 374 middle school students ranging the age of 11 to 15 years completed a set of questionnaires assessing perceived parental math support, math self-efficacy, math enjoyment, and math engagement. In the analysis of structural model, a multiple-step multiple mediation analysis was employed. The findings indicated that perceived parental math support was directly and positively associated with math engagement. Additionally, math self-efficacy and math enjoyment sequentially mediated the relationship between parental math support and math engagement. The limitations and implications of the results are discussed and suggestions for future research are proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmed, W., Minnaert, A., van der Werf, G., & Kuyper, H. (2010). Perceived social support and early adolescents’ achievement: the mediational roles of motivational beliefs and emotions. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(1), 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9367-7.
Amos Development Corporation. (2012). User-defined estimands. Retrieved from http://amosdevelopment.com/index.html.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Bandura, A. (2000). Self-efficacy: The foundation of agency. In W. J. Perrig & A. Grob (Eds.), Control of human behavior, mental processes, and consciousness (pp. 16–31). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc..
Bempechat, J., & Shernoff, D. J. (2012). Parental influences on achievement, motivation and student engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 315–342). Boston: Springer.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Choe, D. (2020). Parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental support as predictors of adolescents’ academic achievement and self-regulated learning. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105172.
Collie, R. J., Martin, A. J., Bobis, J., Way, J., & Anderson, J. (2019). How students switch on and switch off in mathematics: exploring patterns and predictors of (dis) engagement across middle school and high school. Educational Psychology, 39(4), 489–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1537480.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press.
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059.
Hayes, A. F., Preacher, K. J., & Myers, T. A. (2011). Mediation and the estimation of indirect effects in political communication research. In E. P. Bucy & R. L. Holbert (Eds.), Sourcebook for political communication research: Methods, measures, and analytical techniques (pp. 434–465). New York: Routledge.
Helme, S., & Clarke, D. (2001). Identifying cognitive engagement in the mathematics classroom. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 13(2), 133–153.
Hughes, J. N., Luo, W., Kwok, O. M., & Loyd, L. K. (2008). Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: a 3-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.1.1.
Kapıkıran, Ş. (2016). Ebeveyn Akademik Başarı Baskısı ve Desteği Ölçeği’nin psikometrik değerlendirmeleri ve yapısal geçerlik: Ortaokul ve lise öğrencileri [Parent Academic Achievement Pressure and Support Scale psychometric assessment and construct validity: amongst secondary school and high school students]. Ege Eğitim Dergisi, 17(1), 62–83.
Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79–122.
Lin, L., Lee, T., & Snyder, L. A. (2018). Math self-efficacy and STEM intentions: A person-centered approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2033. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02033.
Liu, R. D., Zhen, R., Ding, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, J., Jiang, R., & Xu, L. (2018). Teacher support and math engagement: roles of academic self-efficacy and positive emotions. Educational Psychology, 38(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2017.1359238.
Luo, W., Lee, K., Ng, P. T., & Ong, J. X. W. (2014). Incremental beliefs of ability, achievement emotions and learning of Singapore students. Educational Psychology, 34(5), 619–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2014.909008.
Luo, W., Ng, P. T., Lee, K., & Aye, K. M. (2016). Self-efficacy, value, and achievement emotions as mediators between parenting practice and homework behavior: a control-value theory perspective. Learning and Individual Differences, 50, 275–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.07.017.
Martin, A. J., Way, J., Bobis, J., & Anderson, J. (2015). Exploring the ups and downs of mathematics engagement in the middle years of school. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(2), 199–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431614529365.
Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., & Freeman, K. E. (2000). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Pajares, F., & Miller, M. D. (1994). Role of self-efficacy and self-concept beliefs in mathematical problem solving: A path analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 193–203. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.86.2.193.
Peixoto, F., Mata, L., Monteiro, V., Sanches, C., & Pekrun, R. (2015). The achievement emotions questionnaire: validation for pre-adolescent students. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12(4), 472–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2015.1040757.
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(4), 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9.
Pekrun, R., Frenzel, A., Goetz, T., & Perry, R. P. (2007). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: an integrative approach to emotions in education. In P. A. Schutz & R. Pekrun (Eds.), Emotion in education (pp. 13–36). San Diego: Academic Press.
Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013383.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879.
Raufelder, D., Hoferichter, F., Ringeisen, T., Regner, N., & Jacke, C. (2015). The perceived role of parental support and pressure in the interplay of test anxiety and school engagement among adolescents: evidence for gender-specific relations. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(12), 3742–3756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0182-y.
Rice, L., Barth, J. M., Guadagno, R. E., Smith, G. P., & McCallum, D. M. (2013). The role of social support in students’ perceived abilities and attitudes toward math and science. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(7), 1028–1040. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9801-8.
Ringeisen, T., & Raufelder, D. (2015). The interplay of parental support, parental pressure and test anxiety - gender differences in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 45, 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.08.018.
Schunk, D. H. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26(3-4), 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.1991.9653133.
Schunk, D. H. (1995). Self-efficacy, education and instruction. In J. E. Maddux (Ed.), Self-efficacy, adaptation and adjustment: theory, research and application (pp. 281–303). New York: Plenum.
Sun, Y., Liu, R. D., Oei, T. P., Zhen, R., Ding, Y., & Jiang, R. (2020). Perceived parental warmth and adolescents' math engagement in China: the mediating roles of need satisfaction and math self-efficacy. Learning and Individual Differences, 78, 101837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101837.
Tian, Q., & Chen, B. B. (2020). The associations among parental warmth and hostility and student engagement in math and the mediating role of effortful control among Chinese children. PsyCh Journal, 9(3), 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.337.
Turner, S. L., Steward, J. C., & Lapan, R. T. (2004). Family factors associated with sixth grade adolescents’ math and science career interests. The Career Development Quarterly, 53(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2004.tb00654.x.
Ungar, M. (2011). The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01067.x.
Wang, M. T. (2012). Educational and career interests in math: a longitudinal examination of the links between classroom environment, motivational beliefs, and interests. Developmental Psychology, 48(6), 1643–1657. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027247.
Wang, M. T., & Degol, J. (2013). Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: using expectancy–value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields. Developmental Review, 33(4), 304–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2013.08.001.
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2012). Social support matters: longitudinal effects of social support on three dimensions of school engagement from middle to high school. Child Development, 83(3), 877–895. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01745.x.
Wang, M. T., & Holcombe, R. (2010). Adolescents’ perceptions of school environment, engagement, and academic achievement in middle school. American Educational Research Journal, 47(3), 633–662. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209361209.
Wang, M. T., Fredricks, J. A., Ye, F., Hofkens, T. L., & Linn, J. S. (2016). The math and science engagement scales: scale development, validation, and psychometric properties. Learning and Instruction, 43, 16–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.008.
Wang, J., Liu, R. D., Ding, Y., Xu, L., Liu, Y., & Zhen, R. (2017). Teacher’s autonomy support and engagement in math: multiple mediating roles of self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and boredom. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1006. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01006.
Xu, Z., & Jang, E. E. (2017). The role of math self-efficacy in the structural model of extracurricular technology-related activities and junior elementary school students' mathematics ability. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 547–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.063.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Ali Serdar Sağkal. (2019) Direct and indirect effects of strength-based parenting on adolescents’ school outcomes: Exploring the role of mental toughness. Journal of Adolescence, 76, 20-29. Email: aliserdarsagkal@gmail.com
Current Themes of Research:
Parenting behaviors, adolescence, psychological adjustment, and school outcomes
Most Relevant Publications:
No previous publications
Melike Tural Sönmez. Email: melikesonmez@kku.edu.tr
Current Themes of Research:
Mathematizing process and financial literacy during mathematical modelling activities, instruction of mathematics with web based games, and math engagement
Most Relevant Publications:
No previous publications
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sağkal, A.S., Sönmez, M.T. The effects of perceived parental math support on middle school students’ math engagement: the serial multiple mediation of math self-efficacy and math enjoyment. Eur J Psychol Educ 37, 341–354 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-00518-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-00518-w