title: Father-child transmission of school adjustment: a prospective intergenerational study.
abstract: The intergenerational transmission of school adjustment was explored in a sample of 213 children and their fathers. The fathers were participants in a longitudinal study that began when they were in the 4th grade, and their children have been assessed at the ages of 21 months and 3, 5, and 7 years. Two components of school adjustment were measured: academic achievement and peer relations. Results show that the fathers' academic achievement and peer relations were directly related to the same factors in their offspring even when the fathers' educational attainment, and both the fathers' and the children's general cognitive abilities were included in the models. When potential mechanisms of intergenerational transmission were examined, father's age at the birth of the child, income, and educational expectations for the child were links in the transmission of academic achievement from one generation to the next. For peer relations across generations, income, inconsistent parenting, and educational expectations were links in transmission. Implications of these findings are considered, including the possibility that interventions to improve school adjustment in one generation might have significant and long-reaching effects for the next.
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center.
authors.forename: Katherine C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Pears
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center.
authors.forename: Hyoun K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Capaldi
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center.
authors.forename: David C R
authors.initials: DCR
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center.
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012917:Social Adjustment; D055815:Young Adult