Gift and Sacrifice: Parental Involvement in Latino Adolescents' Education

Although myriad studies document the benefits of parental involvement in education on various indicators of children's academic performance, less research examines parental involvement among adolescents in low-income Latino families. Incorporating a multidimensional conceptualization of parental involvement, this study examined the relation between parental involvement and academic outcomes in a sample of 223 low-income, Latino adolescents. Results indicated that three types of parental involvement (gift/sacrifice, future discussions/academic socialization, and school involvement) had significant, positive associations with academic outcomes. Moreover, our results suggest that parents' stories about struggles with poverty and immigration are an important component of parental involvement, contributing to adolescents' desire to succeed academically and "give back" to parents. Additionally, our findings indicated that the positive relations between parental involvement and academic outcomes were stronger for immigrant youth and for those with higher endorsements of the Latino cultural value of respeto (respect).