Does Strength-Based Parenting Predict Academic Achievement? The Mediating Effects of Perseverance and Engagement

Abstract

Strength-based parenting (SBP) is a style of parenting characterized by knowledge and encouragement of a child’s unique personality, abilities, talents, and skills (i.e., strengths). Recent studies have demonstrated a unique contribution of SBP, above other parenting styles, in predicting a range of wellbeing indicators in adolescents. Given that wellbeing supports learning, and SBP predicts wellbeing, it is also plausible that adolescents with strength-based parents will have greater academic achievement. At the beginning of term, students from a public secondary school in Australia (N = 741, M age  = 13.70, SD = 1.33; 50% female) completed a self-report survey measuring perceptions of parental style, engagement, and perseverance. Subsequent academic results were obtained 3 months later. SBP predicted higher wellbeing in the form of adolescent engagement and perseverance. SBP also demonstrated a significant effect on academic achievement which was mediated by perseverance, but not engagement. Thus, results supported a model in which adolescents with strength-based parents achieved higher grades via increased perseverance. Results reaffirm the importance of the parent-student link, and dispositional qualities of engagement and perseverance, in predicting educational outcomes such as grades. This study extends positive education research beyond the classroom by demonstrating that positive parenting techniques like SBP can predict student wellbeing and academic achievement.