Perceptions of parental drinking, psychosocial factors, and academic achievement of latency age urban public school children
Abstract
This study investigated perceptions of parental drinking in 496 latency age urban public school children, and examined the differences in locus of control, self-esteem, and academic achievement (a) between subjects who perceive parental drinking negatively and those who do not, (b) between male and female subjects, and (c) among third, fourth, and fifth grade subjects. The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Sixth Edition, were used to measure the dependent variables. Five questions which asked how children viewed parental drinking were embedded in the Nowicki-Strickland to assess perceptions of parental drinking. Positive responses indicated concern. Analyses of variance found no significant gender differences on perceptions of parental drinking items, however grade level differences were found. Third graders indicated more concern about parental drinking than fourth graders, and fourth graders indicated more concern than fifth graders. The factorial ANOVA (Perception of Parental Drinking x Grade x Gender) and post hoc Scheffe multiple comparison tests found that subjects who responded negatively to all perception of parental drinking items were more internally controlled than subjects who responded positively to 3, 4, or 5 items. This finding held for boys as well as girls, and across grade levels. A factorial MANOVA found a significant overall effect for the interaction of perception of drinking and grade on the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale. This effect was most strongly associated with the self-esteem total score, the Behavior factor, and Intellectual and School Status factor. MANOVA and Scheffe multiple comparison tests found that subjects who responded negatively to all perception of drinking items had significantly higher reading and math scores than those who responded positively to 3, 4, or 5 items. No significant gender or grade level differences were found for reading or math achievement. In the present study children's perceptions of parental drinking were related significantly to locus of control, self-esteem, and academic achievement across grade and gender. Grade level differences were found for perception of parental drinking and self-esteem. There were no significant gender differences for any variable.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Developmental psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Finn, Elizabeth Ann, "Perceptions of parental drinking, psychosocial factors, and academic achievement of latency age urban public school children" (1993). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9412133.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9412133
