Trajectories of paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement in late childhood: Effects of fathers’ time and energy.

Abstract

Parental self-efficacy beliefs develop over time. Most research, however, has focused mainly on the trajectories and predictors of trajectories of maternal self-efficacy, while little is known about those of paternal self-efficacy. This study examined the change in paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement during children's elementary school period, analyzing whether the change is influenced by fathers' long working hours (i.e., work hours on workdays and work hours on nonworkdays) and fathers' perceptions of time and energy. Data from 1,684 Chinese fathers of fourth grade children were collected every half year for two-and-a-half consecutive years. The results of a latent growth curve analysis revealed that paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement increased over the elementary school period. Fathers' working hours on nonworkdays were negatively associated with the initial level of paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement, but this negative effect was nonsignificant after fathers' perceived time and energy were added to the final model. Fathers' perceived time and energy were positively associated with the initial level of paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement and negatively associated with the growth rate of paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement. The findings advance the theory of parental self-efficacy, underlining the need to consider fathers' perceived time and energy to understand changes in paternal self-efficacy for educational involvement.

The developmental trends of parental self-efficacy and adolescents’ rule-breaking behaviors in the Italian context: A 7-wave latent growth curve study

“…In detail, the three-wave longitudinal study of Weaver and colleagues [44], conducted on a sample of American mother-child dyads, found a trend of increasing PSE from age 2 to 4, evidencing that as experience and familiarity in caring for a young child increase, parents feel increasingly more adept at handling different challenges related to their parenting roles. Similarly, Bi and colleagues [45] conducted a two-and-a-half-year longitudinal study on a sample of Chinese fathers during children's elementary school-age period and found that fathers' PSE for educational involvement significantly increased as children moved from the fourth to sixth grade. Differently, Glatz and Buchanan [34] conducted a three-wave longitudinal study on changes in mothers' and fathers' PSE among American adolescents from age 11 to 15 and found a significant decrease in PSE over time, suggesting that parents feel gradually less efficacious in their parenting skills as youths gain independence and start to spend more time outside the home.…”

“…Despite the well-known importance of PSE in child development and adjustment, to our knowledge, only three longitudinal studies have investigated the normative developmental trends of PSE, respectively during early [44] and late childhood [45], and early adolescent development [34]. In detail, the three-wave longitudinal study of Weaver and colleagues [44], conducted on a sample of American mother-child dyads, found a trend of increasing PSE from age 2 to 4, evidencing that as experience and familiarity in caring for a young child increase, parents feel increasingly more adept at handling different challenges related to their parenting roles.…”

Developmental Trajectories of Parental Self-Efficacy as Children Transition to Adolescence in Nine Countries: Latent Growth Curve Analyses

“…Social learning theory predicts, and some data support, that parents of higher education and socio-economic status have higher parental self-efficacy specifically for promoting academic achievement (Bi et al, 2021;Schuengel & Oosterman, 2019). This would result from their own greater familiarity and success with the educational context, as well as access to more resources to support their children's education.…”