Stephouseholds and Academic Achievement

Only in the last decade has extensive research been conducted on stepchildren and stepparents. Most of that research has been on the social and psychological profiles of stephouseholds. Relatively little research has been conducted on the effects of stephouseholds on children's academic achievement. It is known that stepchildren do not perform as well as their counterparts in school. In this article, the author examines the role of parental resources as a moderating variable in children's academic achievement. Variables used in the model include interpersonal, economic, and cultural parental resources.

Previous research indicates that stepchildren underperform academically compared to children from households with both biological parents. Past researchers attributed this to a difference in parental resources. However, stepchildren do perform roughly equivalent to children from single parent households, despite having higher family incomes.

Higher family incomes can have a direct effect on academic achievement because wealthier households are more likely to have resources such as encyclopedias or computers available.

Prior research, however, indicates that some parental resources are unrelated to economic fac

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ever, the fact that the strength of his results diminished when he included other background variables in the equation is a weakness. It may be that other, as yet unidentified, variables might also diminish the impact. Future research should strive to take more variables into account. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that Downey's call to develop more social capital in stephouseholds would do any harm, and if his indications are correct, then it could do much good. A Review of "Parents' education levels, parents' beliefs, and child outcomes" by Nuran Hartacsu The Journal of Genetic Psychology, September, 1995 Problem Studied The purpose of the study was to examine relationships between parents' level of education, parents' implicit theories about child development, child cognitions concerning self, and academic achievement. Summary of Literature Reviewed The author focused on literature related to "the contextual approach," which focuses on social context as important in determining child developmental outcomes. The literature was relatively brief and concentrated on previous research that indicates close relationships between academic performance and (1) parental education levels and (2) parental beliefs about child
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Approximate Word count = 1448
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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