Abstract:
Most of the studies based on empirical surveys have witnessed that there is a positive
relationship between parental involvement and child outcomes. Hence, the general view is
that parental involvement in the lives of children has a positive influence on schoolrelated outcomes and behaviour. Depression or anxiety seems to be a barrier to parental
involvement. Experience of economic hardship was identified as an important factor in
determining parental mental health and self-perception. On this backdrop, this study
attempted to identify the impact of parents’ psychological circumstances influenced by
economic hardships on their involvement in child-related school activities based on an
extended version of the Family Stress Interactionist Model. The study mainly focused on
the constructs of economic distress, psychological circumstances, negative marital
interaction, and parental involvement of both father and mother separately with the
progress of child school engagement. Moreover, the study adopted an Actor Partner
Interdependence Approach in examining the interdependency of dyadic relationships
between father and mother. Cross-sectional primary data collected through a sample
survey were used and the sample consisted of parents of 380 students from 5 selected
schools in an urban setting including both low and middle-income families. Results
of Structural Equation Modelling suggested that the significance of mothers’ parental
involvement in child school engagement in comparison to the fathers’ in the context of
Sri Lanka. Mothers’ parental involvement was not significantly affected by their
psychological circumstances compared to fathers’ due to different roles of father and
mother in the family. More specifically, findings identified the interdependency between
father and mother and hence the study concluded that the psychological circumstances
along with the economic distress of both parents are important in determining the
progress of child-related school activities.
Keywords: Economic distress, Psychological circumstances, Parental involvement,
School engagement
