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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1399507

Influence of Parental Structure and Chaos on Homework Anxiety in Elementary School Students: The Mediating Role of Homework Motivation

Provisionally accepted
Li Jing Li Jing Yadong Ding Yadong Ding *
  • China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The present study aimed to examine the relationship between parental structure, parental chaos, and homework anxiety among elementary school students, as well as the mediating roles of autonomous and controlled motivation in relation to homework. A total of 1,118 elementary school students from grades 4 to 6 completed the Parents as Social Context Questionnaire, Homework Anxiety Scale, and Homework Motivation Scale. Results indicated that parental structure was negatively associated with homework anxiety in elementary school students, while parental chaos exhibited a positive correlation with such anxiety; furthermore, both homework autonomous and controlled motivation mediated the relationship between parental structure and chaos with homework anxiety. Specifically, a structured parenting environment could mitigate homework anxiety by enhancing students’ autonomous motivation; conversely, chaotic parenting environments were associated with increased homework anxiety through heightened controlled motivation while simultaneously diminishing autonomous motivation. These findings offer novel insights into alleviating homework-related anxiety among elementary school students and provide empirical support for developing educational interventions focused on parenting practices.

    Keywords: Parental structure, parental chaos, homework anxiety, Autonomous Motivation, Controlled motivation

    Received: 12 Mar 2024; Accepted: 24 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jing and Ding. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yadong Ding, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu Province, China

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