Financial strain, parenting behaviors, and adolescents' achievement: Testing model equivalence between African American and European American single- and two-parent families

Abstract

This study tested the equivalence of a theoretical model of parenting behaviors linking financial strain to adolescents' achievement for African American and European American families and for single-and two-parent families. The sample included an economic cross-section of African American (n = 387) and European American families (n = 230) from single-(n = 171) and two-parent (n = 446) homes. Multi-group analyses revealed no significant differences in the structural equation models between the African American and European American families, or between the single-and two-parent families. Results demonstrated that negative parent-adolescent relationships and parental school involvement mediated the relation between financial strain and adolescents' academic achievement.