PARENTS INFLUENCE ON CHILDRENS ACHIEVEMENT-RELATED PERCEPTIONS

Two aspects of the relation between parents' perceptions of their chil dren and children's self-and task perceptions in math and English were investigated: (a) the mediating role of parents' perceptions between grades and adolescents' self-perceptions and (b) the gendered nature o f parents' perceptions. Data for this study are part of a longitudinal investigation (the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions). Da ta from 914 sixth-grade adolescents and their parents are used in this article. Results showed that parents' perceptions mediate the relatio n between children's grades and children's self- and task perceptions in both domains. Parents' perceptions had a stronger influence on chil dren's perceptions than children's own grades. Significant but low cor relations between gender and self- and task perceptions were found in both math and English.