The Role of Family Characteristics for Students' Academic Outcomes: A Person-Centered Approach

Isabelle Häfner*, Barbara Flunger, Anna Lena Dicke, Hanna Gaspard, Brigitte Maria Brisson, Benjamin Nagengast, Ulrich Trautwein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Using data from 1,571 ninth-grade students (Mage = 14.62) from 82 academic track schools in Germany and their predominantly Caucasian middle-class parents, configurations of different family characteristics reported by parents were investigated. Latent profile analyses considering academic involvement, family interest, parents' self-concept, child's need for support, and parents' time and energy identified average, indifferent, motivated and engaged, motivated and disengaged, and involved families. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with students' motivational (self-concept, effort, and interest) and achievement outcomes (achievement test and grades) in math were analyzed. Students from families classified as motivated and disengaged showed higher initial levels motivation and achievement. Over 5 months, these students also showed an increase in self-concept and higher achievement than students from other family types.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1405-1422
Number of pages18
JournalChild Development
Volume89
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2018
Externally publishedYes

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