The Role of Parental Punishment in the Relation between Economic Adjustment and Children's School Engagement

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to examine the direct and indirect effect of economic adjustment on the emotional and behavioural school engagement of children, through parental punishment. The direct and indirect effects were examined depending on the gender of the child and the parent, and the source of the assessment of the examined constructs. Based on theoretical models, namely the Adams's and Ryan Family–School Relationships Model (2005), the Conger's and colleges Family Stress Model (2010), and the model of Yoshikawa and colleges (2012), hypothesis has been postulated about the existence of significant indirect but not the direct effect of the economic adjustment on the school engagement of boys and girls. In this paper, the data collected from 285 schoolchildren and their parents analysed. Children assessed punishment of the father and of the mother, and their school engagement and parents provided information on the economic adjustment. Using the Hayes's (2013) mediation process analysis, eight models were tested with direct and indirect effects of the economic adjustment on school engagement of the children. The results partly supported the hypothesis of the existence of significant indirect but not direct effects of economic adjustment on school engagement. The obtained results indicate that the effect of economic adjustment on school engagement of boys is only indirect, namely through parental punishment, while in girls the economic adjustment is both directly and indirectly related to school engagement. In boys, the adverse effect of economic adjustment on school engagement is realized through the behaviour of both mothers and fathers, while in girls only with the relation to maternal behaviour. The results indicate the significant and negative impact of the economic adjustment on school engagement of children.