RELATIONS AMONG FAMILY-INTERACTION PATTERNS, CLASSROOM SELF-RESTRAINT, AND ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT IN PREADOLESCENT BOYS

Relations among observed family interaction patterns, preadolescent boys' classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement were studied in a sample of 65 intact families. In contrast to previous work in this area, children's social adjustment was introduced as a potential mechanism that mediates the relations between parent-child interactions and academic performance. Correlational results showed significant relations between achievement and all parent-child interaction scores except mother-son hostility. However, regression analyses suggested that the association between father-son interactions and achievement is mediated almost entirely by sons' restraint, whereas the relationships between mother-son interactions and achievement are not. Observed mother-father hostility also appears to be an indirect predictor of sons' academic achievement by way of its association with sons' restraint. These findings are especially important in that they identify social competence in the form of behavioral self-restraint as a noncognitive mediator between the quality of family functioning and academic achievement during early adolescence.