Parental factors and academic self-efficacy: A demographic study of junior high school students in Shanxi, China

Abstract

Recent educational reforms in China have placed greater emphasis on students’ holistic development and well-being, highlighting the growing importance of understanding family educational processes. However, little is known about how students’ perceptions of parental psychological resources and educational processes vary across demographic groups in the current educational context. This study aimed to examine demographic differences in junior high school students’ perceptions of parental psychological capital, parental educational involvement, parent–child relationships, and academic self-efficacy. A total of 472 junior high school students completed self-report questionnaires. Independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs revealed several significant demographic differences. Female students reported higher academic self-efficacy and perceived higher levels of mother’s psychological capital and both father’s and mother’s educational involvement. Significant cross-sectional differences across grade levels were observed, with Grade 7 students reporting higher levels of academic self-efficacy, parental psychological capital, parental educational involvement, and parent–child relationships than students in higher grades. Urban students generally reported higher levels of several measured variables than town and rural students, whereas only children reported higher perceived PPC and PEI than children with siblings; these differences varied across domains. These findings highlight the importance of considering demographic characteristics in understanding family educational processes and suggest the value of targeted family support strategies and context-sensitive educational practices.