Association between parental involvement in school and child conduct, social, and internalizing problems: teacher report

The present study examined the factor structure of the Teacher Involvement Questionnaire (Involve-T) by means of exploratory factor analysis and examined the association between children's socio-emotional and behavioural problems and teacher-reported parental involvement in school, using structural equation modelling. The study was conducted with a Norwegian sample of school children in Grades 1-3. Results of the factor analysis supported the use of 3 separate scales, as suggested by the scale author (Webster-Stratton, 1998); however, a number of items in each scale were reduced. Furthermore, the results showed among other findings that teachers reported more frequent contact with parents of children with conduct problems than with those of children who did not display conduct problems, and that parents of children with high levels of socio-emotional competence were more involved in their children's education than other parents. The results need to be replicated in future research in a more representative study population.