ABSTRACT
Children in grades 4 (n=157), 7 (n=151), and 11 (n=99) and a parent (n=407) completed the Inventory of Parental Influence (IPI) (Campbell, 1994). This instrument assessed children’s and parent’s perceptions of school-focused, parental behaviors from the child’s view of each parent, as well as mothers and fathers views of their own behaviors. Prior to this investigation it was unclear whether children and parents views of school-focused parenting behaviors were identical or divergent. Initial analyses for age differences revealed no significant developmental age pattern. Therefore, age was eliminated as a major feature and the sample was examined by collapsing the three age groups into a single total sample of 407 responses for children and for adults. Factor analyses performed separately for each of the four possible perspectives produced five factors for children’s viewpoint (Help, Support, Pressure, Press for Intellectual Development, and Monitoring) and five factors for parents (Help, Support, Expectations to Excel, Concern for Child’s Motivation, and Management/Promotion of Learning). The evidence indicates that children and parents share a similar view of help and support; however they diverge in their perceptions of the remaining parenting behaviors and attitudes pertaining to education. The findings suggest that children and parents’ perspectives are similar on some perceived parenting behaviors yet different on others. Several explanations are offered to account for these distinctions; the primary explanations being differences in maturity between children and adults and the distinction associated between children and the adult role of parent.
