A structural equation model of mediation between parental variables and school outcomes. The moderating effect of parents' level of education

The purpose of this study was to investigate how parental punitive discipline and parents' history of the problem behavior influence child school outcomes, taking into account the mediation of child religiosity and moderation of parents' level of education. We used self-reported data, based on questionnaires, from 248 adolescents (Mage = 17.8), from Romania. For the statistical analysis we used Structural Equation Modeling, bootstrapping method or critical ratio of differences test. Our findings indicate that the way parents do what they do when correcting misbehavior, their personal history and their level of education can directly and indirectly play a significant role in predicting children's school outcomes. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B. V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of PSIWORLD2011