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, Mage = 13.70, SD = 1.33; 50% female) completed a self-report survey measuring perceptions of parent..