Parenting Style and Peer Trust in Relation to School Adjustment in Middle Childhood

Fourth grade children (N = 346) reported on their perceptions of their mothers' acceptance and behavioral control, their own feelings of trust of their friends, and their experiences of stress within the school environment. School record data yielded four indicators of academic achievement: math and reading grades and performance on state- wide standardized tests of math and reading. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the fit of a model linking parenting and peer constructs to school adjustment. The best fitting model indicated that higher levels of maternal acceptance, but not behavioral control, were associated with both lower levels of school stress and higher academic achievement. The association between acceptance and school stress, but not academic achievement, was partially mediated by levels of peer trust.