Abstract
Background and Aims
This study examined how parenting styles influence children's language skills and reading comprehension.
Materials and Methods
Six hundred and eighty-five Chinese-speaking third graders (Mage = 9.23 years, SD = .66; 341 girls) were randomly recruited from eight primary schools. We measured students' primary caregivers' parenting styles, parental education, family income, migration status, number of children's extracurricular books in the home and family cohesion at Wave 1 (i.e. grade 3). We also assessed students' reading motivation, language skills (i.e. vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness) and reading comprehension at Wave 2 (i.e. grade 4).
Results
The structural equation model analysis revealed that parenting styles indirectly affect language and reading comprehension development, with authoritative and authoritarian parenting exerting different influences on the two outcomes. Specifically, authoritative parenting was positively related to the number of children's books, which in turn was directly, or indirectly through reading motivation, associated with children's language skills and reading comprehension. In contrast, authoritarian parenting was negatively related to family cohesion, which was associated with children's reading motivation, and consequently, their language skills and reading comprehension. The multigroup analysis showed that the indirect pathways varied slightly across parental migration statuses.
Discussion and Conclusion
These findings enhance the global understanding of the pathways linking parenting styles to children's language skills and reading comprehension, suggesting that educators and researchers should not overly emphasize the direct role of parenting styles in children's academic performance.
This study examined how parenting styles influence children's language skills and reading comprehension.
Materials and Methods
Six hundred and eighty-five Chinese-speaking third graders (Mage = 9.23 years, SD = .66; 341 girls) were randomly recruited from eight primary schools. We measured students' primary caregivers' parenting styles, parental education, family income, migration status, number of children's extracurricular books in the home and family cohesion at Wave 1 (i.e. grade 3). We also assessed students' reading motivation, language skills (i.e. vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness) and reading comprehension at Wave 2 (i.e. grade 4).
Results
The structural equation model analysis revealed that parenting styles indirectly affect language and reading comprehension development, with authoritative and authoritarian parenting exerting different influences on the two outcomes. Specifically, authoritative parenting was positively related to the number of children's books, which in turn was directly, or indirectly through reading motivation, associated with children's language skills and reading comprehension. In contrast, authoritarian parenting was negatively related to family cohesion, which was associated with children's reading motivation, and consequently, their language skills and reading comprehension. The multigroup analysis showed that the indirect pathways varied slightly across parental migration statuses.
Discussion and Conclusion
These findings enhance the global understanding of the pathways linking parenting styles to children's language skills and reading comprehension, suggesting that educators and researchers should not overly emphasize the direct role of parenting styles in children's academic performance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1245-1270 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | British Journal of Educational Psychology |
| Volume | 94 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 7 Oct 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2024 |
Bibliographical note
© 2024 British Psychological Society.Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. 18601023) and, in part, by the Opening Project of Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education to Xiuhong Tong.
Keywords
- children's books
- family cohesion
- language skills
- parenting styles
- reading comprehension
- reading motivation