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Parental influence on academic achievement among the primary school

students in Trinidad

Article  in  Early Child Development and Care · June 2017

DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2016.1163549

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 EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1163549

Parental influence on academic achievement among the primary

school students in Trinidad
Emmanuel Janagan Johnson and Christine H. Descartes
Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine,
Trinidad & Tobago

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The present study examined the level of parental influence on academic Received 5 January 2016
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achievement in primary school students who prepare for the National- Accepted 5 March 2016
level test at standard five (grade 6), Secondary Entrance Examinations in
KEYWORDS
Trinidad. A sample of 128 students studying standard five from primary Academic achievement;
schools was randomly selected. The data were analysed using SPSS. The education; development;
findings of the study revealed that regardless of parental educational parental influence; study
status, all parents try to influence their children to study well. The results habits; Trinidad
showed that there was a positive influence on academic achievement in
students. The findings of the study were discussed and implications for
future research have been proposed. The study highlighted several
recommendations to mitigate the effects of academic anxiety and
suggested some measures to be taken by the parents, teachers, peers
and social workers to successfully navigate this phase of life marked by
transition and search for identity.

Introduction
Adolescence is defined as a period of growth between childhood and adulthood. It is a time of rapid
physiological and psychological change of intensive readjustment to the family, school work and
social life (Ram, 1998). The family setting and the relationship between parents and adolescents
are extremely important for the well-being and development of adolescents. Small and Eastman
(1991), as cited in (Alvy, 1987, p. 19), proposed five interrelated functions and responsibilities of par-
enting: (a) providing basic resources, (b) caring for the home, (c) protecting children, (d) guiding and
supporting children’s physical and psychological development and (e) advocating with the wider
community on behalf of the children. This parental function includes obtaining and caring for the
variety of resources that are necessary to meet the basic needs of survival such as a safe and
secure place to live, satisfactory food and nutrition, clothing, and the capacity to access medical,
dental and mental health services (Alvy, 1987). A parent’s ability and the standard of providing
these aforementioned resources are closely associated with the educational and economic status
of parents. Research has identified certain parental competencies necessary for performing the func-
tion of guiding children during the period of schooling. School is an extension of the home, supple-
menting and extending the training of the child beyond what can be given within the family (Rice,
1996, p. 16).
Education in its broadest sense is defined as a process designed to inculcate the knowledge, skills
and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment. Its primary
purpose is to foster and promote the fullest individual self-realization for all the people. Early

CONTACT Emmanuel Janagan Johnson Emmanuel.JanaganJohnson@sta.uwi.edu

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 2 E. J. JOHNSON AND C. H. DESCARTES

childhood pedagogy is a contested, complex and diverse space, yet these factors are entirely appro-
priate for supporting young children to flourish as valued individuals in different contexts (Murray,
2015). Achieving this goal requires understanding of commitment to the proposition that education
is a primary instrument for social and economic advancement of human welfare (Verma, 1990). With
increasing competitiveness, students strive to improve their quality of performance which is also
likely to increase academic anxiety of the students. Parents desire that their children climb the
ladder of performance to as high a level as possible.
Particularly, during early adolescence, parents have a vested interest in their children’s education.
In Trinidad, academic achievement is considered as a key criterion to judge one’s total potentialities
and capacities at the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA) which is a National-level examination.
The SEA is administered to children between the ages of 11 and 14, and is part of the admissions
process for all public secondary schools in Trinidad. This examination has three main sections: Math-
ematics, Language Arts and Creative Writing. For both parents and children, there is intense prep-
aration before this examination, as strong emphasis is placed on children passing for their first
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choice school. Leading to the examination, many parents enrol their children in after school
private lessons. Children also prepare through practice tests and past papers from previous years
that are available on the local newspapers or sold by local educational organizations. Hence, aca-
demic achievement occupies a very important place in education as well as in the learning process.
Academic achievement was related to measures of family composition such as family size, number
of adult caregivers and parents’ educational level (Jones & White, 2000). The high expectations that
parents may have for their children can create undue stress leading to academic anxiety, particularly
when children are about to sit for National-level examinations. It may be argued that parents with
good academic background provide a sound support in the child’s education. No research has for-
mally perceived the support of parents in their children’s education.

Academic anxiety
Academic anxiety is a multidimensional construct that has been defined as the set of phenomeno-
logical, physiological and behavioural responses that accompany concern about possible negative
consequences or failure on an exam or similar evaluative situation (Deshprabhu, 1998). Academic
anxiety consists of three interwoven component parts, which manifest in cognitive, emotional and
psychological symptoms including preoccupation during test-taking moments with relevant
thoughts about the test, fear, apprehension, irrational excitement and tension about the test-
(Malhotra, & Devika, 2008). Robinson and Biran (2006) state that individual academic performance
is compared to a standard to determine a person’s level of accomplishment or success.
Several studies pointed out that the parenting behaviour as a style of child upbringing (refers to
privilege or responsibility of mother and father) prepares the child for society and culture. The variety
of parent–adolescent relationships is as large as that in any other type of interpersonal situation.
Some children seem to have harmonious relationships with their parents, without experiencing
any major disagreements or blow-ups. Others bicker with their parents over all issues, great and
small. Reciprocal influence between children and parents can be seen in the mode of discipline
within a home, established in large part by parents, which influences the behaviour of the children.
Young children respond to parental interpretations of the day-to-day events related to school (Baker
& Entwistle, 1987).
In the Trinidad context, very few studies have examined the impact of parental influence on the
academic achievement in students. It is important to note that parents who have children writing the
SEA generally experience intense levels of anxiety during the preparation time of the examination.
However, parental influence actually declines as students grow older, so that it is less in secondary
school than in elementary. Therefore, this study will investigate the impact of parental influence
on the academic anxiety among primary school students.
 EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE 3

Research objectives
The main objective of this study was to examine the level of parental influence on academic achieve-
ment among primary school students in Trinidad. The study also examined the significant relation-
ship between the educational status of the parents and the level of parental influence on their
children’s education, academic anxiety and study habits of children.

Methods
Data collection methods and instruments
The authors used a direct interview method for data collection. A structured interview schedule was
developed, consisting of 21 closed-ended questions on the level of habits and academic anxiety for
data collection. The language of the instrument was very simple in such a way that the children can
easily understand the questions.
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Sampling and respondents

Multistage random sampling procedure was adopted to select the respondents. One hundred and
twenty-eight children studying in standard five were randomly selected from different schools in Tri-
nidad. Before collecting the data parental permission/consent was secured from each parent.

Ethical issues
Ethical protocol was strictly observed. The purpose of the research was explained to the children and
the consent form was read and signed by the participants in this study. A guarantee of confidentiality
and anonymity of sources was given to the school authorities and all participants.

Data analysis techniques

All the data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). In order to facilitate
data analysis, the frequencies and chi-square analyses procedure were employed to compute basic
statistics for the variables and to test the association between the variables.

Results
The study was mainly concerned with investigating the effects of parental influence on the level of
study habits and academic anxiety among the school children. Demographic characteristics revealed
that little more than half of the participants (55%) were second born and had only one sibling. A vast
majority of the respondents (64%) came from a single-parent family. The majority (69%) of the
respondents resided near the schools. About 20.8% of the participants’ parents studied only up to
‘A’ level (Higher Secondary School) and 45.5% of the parents studied up to a Tertiary education
degree.
Table 1 highlights that 48% of the participants had a medium level of study habits (i.e. students
who perform average in the class tests) and only 22% of the participants had a high level of study
habits (i.e. students who performed very well in the class tests). It was not surprising that 30% of
the participants had a low level of study habits (i.e. students who performed poorly). Their low
level of performance may be due to habits like concentrating more on extra-curricular activities
and in some cases factors associated with the family background such as students from single-
parent families, students who live with guardians or step mothers and the parents’ educational back-
ground was below pre-degree.
 4 E. J. JOHNSON AND C. H. DESCARTES

Table 1. Distribution of the respondents by their level of study habits.

S. No. Level of study habits Frequency Percentage
1 Low level (≤63) 38 30
2 Medium level (64–75) 62 48
3 High level (76 and above) 28 22
Total 128 100

Table 2. Association between the educational status of the parents and the level of parental influence.
Parental influence
S. No. Educational status of parents Low (≤85) Medium (86–94) High (≥95) Total
1 Primary School 8 (33.3%) 10 (41.7%) 6 (25%) 24 (100%)
2 High School 8 (23.5%) 16 (47.1%) 10 (29.4%) 34 (100%)
3 Higher Secondary School 10 (20.8%) 30 (62.5%) 8 (16.7%) 48 (100%)
4 Degree and above 10 (45.5%) 02 (9.1%) 10 (45.5%) 22 (100%)
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Total 36 (28.1%) 58 (45.3%) 34 (26.6%) 128 (100%)

Table value = 12.592, df = 6, calculated value = 9.094, Sig. = .168.

Table 3. Association between the level of academic anxiety and the level of parental influence of the respondents.
S. No. Academic anxiety Parental influence Total
Low (≤85) Medium (86–94) High (≥95)
1 Low 16 (47.1%) 18 (52.9%) 0 (0%) 34 (100.0%)
2 Medium 16 (28.6%) 24 (42.9%) 16 (28.6%) 56 (100.0%)
3 High 04 (10.5%) 16 (42.1%) 18 (47.4%) 38 (100.0%)
Total 36 (28.1%) 58 (45.3%) 34 (26.6%) 128 (100.0%)
Table value = 9.488, df = 4, calculated value = 12.214, Sig. = .016.

Many parents whose education level was an undergraduate degree (45.5%) had a very high influ-
ence on their children compared to only 25% of parents with primary school education, 29.4% with
high school education and 16.7% with higher secondary school education. Interestingly, a large
number of the remaining parents with an undergraduate degree and above (45.5%) also had a
low level of influence on their children’s education. The majority of parents with a higher secondary
education (62.5%) had a medium influence on their children’s education. Overall, the results clearly
showed that regardless of the educational status, all the parents try to influence their children to
study well. This may certainly create more anxiety in the minds of children to study well. However,
the results in Table 2 show that there is no significant association between the educational status
of the parents and the level of parental influence on their children’s education.
It is clear from Table 3 that there is a significant association between the level of academic anxiety
and the level of parental influence. It is very well understood that parents play a major influence in
creating high levels of academic anxiety in their children. Thus, children are expected to fulfil the
desires of the parents.
As seen from Table 4, there was a significantly high positive correlation between academic anxiety
and parental influence. A significant moderate correlation was found between study habits and par-
ental influence.

Table 4. Distribution of correlation between the study habits, academic anxiety and parental influence.
Study habits Academic anxiety Parental influence
Study habits – .06 .35**
Academic anxiety .06 – .43**
Parental influence .35** .43** –
**There is clear evidence that parental influence has a positive correlation with academic anxiety.
 EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE 5

Discussion
The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between parental influence and aca-
demic achievement in primary school students who prepare for the National-level test at standard
five. The findings of the study highlighted that strong emphasis is placed on performing well in exam-
inations. The results also indicated that parents instill high anxiety in the minds of their children, to
excel and to perform well. This is consistent with the findings of previous research (Waring, 2012;
Wood, McLeod, Sigman, Hwang, & Chu, 2003). Moreover, parents’ motivation on their children for
the academic performance have a positive correlation with their children’s study habits.
While parental motives can improve the study habits of children, they also can negatively affect
children’s performance by increasing their level of anxiety. This in turn could negatively affect chil-
dren’s performance during examinations. Parents influence their children to become anxious at
school as they express worry about their own work or other tasks they need to accomplish
(Waring, 2012). Many researchers contend that this expression of concern for success and how
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they handle potential stress may serve as an example for how children perceive academic pressures
and how they effectively cope with them (Cappa, Begle, Conger, Dumas, & Conger, 2011; Wood et al.,
2003). For example, Wood et al. (2003) argued that if parents express low levels of stress or show posi-
tive reactions to stress, the child is likely to show similar positive reactions, while in the case of parents
who have high levels of stress and cannot cope effectively under stressful conditions, these charac-
teristics are likely to be evident in their children. According to MacIntyre and Gardner (1991),
increased levels of anxiety can have a variety of negative effects on children’s ability to perform
well in class. Anxious students are less likely to volunteer answers and to participate in oral classroom
activities. They also tend to avoid difficult linguistic structures that the more relaxed students would
be willing to attempt (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991).
This is evident in some students because of the increased anxiety; they develop a negative effect
of not willing to take part in group discussions, being less attentive to the class sessions and careless
in completing the home works. Furthermore, it is necessary for parents to have awareness that high
levels of anxiety will have a negative impact on children and could lead to depression or feelings of
isolation. Thus, increased levels of anxiety may have negative consequences for future psychological
development.
One of the most effective ways to deal with academic anxiety is through effective teaching
methods. Effective teaching should incorporate efforts to handle the problem of anxiety associated
with learning (Rosenfeld, 1978). Despite the experiences of students, teachers and administrators,
early empirical studies were unable to establish a clear picture of how anxiety affects learning and
performance (Horwitz & Young, 1991). The impact of parental involvement on student academic
achievement has been recognized by teachers, administrators and policy-makers who consider par-
ental involvement to be one of the integral parts of new educational reforms and initiatives (Wildera,
2014). While there seems to be a relationship between parental influence and academic anxiety,
there is need for future researchers to examine the predictive power of parental influence that
may be aggregated even further.
While the study adds to the growing body of research on the relationship between parental influ-
ence and test anxiety in children, there were a few caveats that may threaten the external and
internal validity of the study. Due to the small sample size, the findings may not be generalizable,
making the sample non-representative. The study utilized a cross-sectional design in which the
timing of this snapshot study is not guaranteed to be representative. In light of the aforementioned
limitations, there are some recommendations that can be made to improve on studies in the future.

Conclusion
Although there are several limitations inhibiting the significance of this study, it does serve as an
important step in seeking to measure a more cohesive picture of children’s academic anxiety.
 6 E. J. JOHNSON AND C. H. DESCARTES

Parental influence is highly important for children’s educational success. Research suggests that
parents are frequently cited as the most significant and influential agents of socialization throughout
childhood (Strimaitiene & Kvieskaite, 2009). Parenting is a complex activity that includes many
specific behaviours that work individually to influence child outcome. Parents are probably the
most significant and major influence on adolescents’ development, particularly during early adoles-
cence. Ihmeideh’s (2014) research findings highlighted that fathers’ perceptions of their own prac-
tices in kindergarten-based activities were rather low. In addition, the results revealed that there
was a significant and positive relationship between fathers’ beliefs and their actual practices. Stu-
dents should be nurtured properly at home and in school so as to develop into individuals with a
balanced personality. Therefore, it is suggested that the parents, teachers and peers have a very
crucial role to play.
School social workers can also play an important role in addressing the issue of academic anxiety
among adolescent children, particularly within the context of the family. Social workers have skills in
assessment, which may be used to identify students experiencing handicapping levels of academic
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anxiety. Social workers may intervene with these students and their families by applying their knowl-
edge of individual behaviour and family dynamics. Additionally, social workers are to work towards
the empowerment of adolescents through their participation in making decisions in their families as
well as in the community (National Association of Social Workers, 1993).

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors
Dr Emmanuel Janagan Johnson, Ph.D., is a Lecturer and Coordinator, Social Work Unit, in the Department of Behavioural
Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad and Tobago, and is
endowed with 24 years of teaching experience. He has guided 40 postgraduate students, 9 M.Phil. and 3 Ph.D. research
scholars. He has published 2 books, 8 chapters in books and 30 scholarly articles in different refereed journals. His area of
research interest is on the issues related to Children and Women.
Dr Christine H. Descartes is a Lecturer in Psychology Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences,
University of West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad and Tobago, and is having 10 years of teaching experience.
She is a young budding Psychology researcher whose research interest focus on child and adolescent problem beha-
viours and other issues related to trauma and mental health in children.

ORCID
Emmanuel Janagan Johnson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2543-1144

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