Impacts of Parent-Child Relationship on High School Students’ Academic Anxiety Level in an International School Setting

Abstract

Past research has established that academic anxiety level can be negatively predicted by parent-child relationship; whether such relations existed in an international education setting remained unknown due to limited research. To bridge the gap, the current study aimed at examining such prediction in an international education system and further analyzed whether such pattern varied based on parental gender roles. A total of 458 high school students from an international high school in Shenzhen, China, completed the questionnaire that measured self-reported parentchild relationship and academic stress. Results showed a similar prediction exists in the current population, in which better parent-child relations, specifically paternal relations, predicted a lower level of academic anxiety. Mother-child relation was not significantly related to academic anxiety, suggesting varied effects from fathers and mothers. Current results highlight the impact of parental roles on international high school students regarding schoolworkrelated stress, emphasizing the need for further research focusing on this population to create better academic stress prevention across education settings.