Original scientific paper

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND QUALITY OF FAMILY INTERACTION AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN CROATIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AND MACEDONIA

Slavica Šimić Šašić orcid.org/0000-0002-4465-1716 ; University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Mira Klarin orcid.org/0000-0003-4138-7531 ; University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Ana Proroković ; University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia

Abstract

The family as the primary factor in socialization determines the overall development of a child, and therefore, partially determines the extent of the child's academic achievement. The results of earlier studies indicate that the family socio-demographic and the family process variables are associated with students' academic achievement. Rohner (2010) underlines that patterns of relations between parental behaviour and functioning of youth are specific with regard to culture, gender and the type of the observed outcome. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the determinants of academic achievement among socio-demographic variables and variables of family interaction in different countries.
The sample included high school students in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia and the following instruments were used: Sociodemographic Characteristics Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Families Scale (Vulic-Prtoric, 2004), Perception of Parental Behaviour Scale (Macuka, 2007) and Loneliness in the Family Scale (Cubela Adoric, 2004).
Among the measured variables, the determinants of the academic achievement of students were: country, mother's education level, the type of school the student attends, paternal psychological control, loneliness in families and the student's gender. The results further demonstrated different relations of the measured variables and school achievement in different countries. The comparison of the individual contributions of the socioeconomic status and the family interaction variables in boys and girls in these three countries showed that these two sets of predictors were responsible for a somewhat different percentage of variance in students' academic achievement, and that the different family variables were a significant predictor of academic achievement in boys and girls in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia.

Keywords

the quality of family interactions; prediction; country-specific; socioeconomic status of families; academic achievement

Hrčak ID:

68695

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/68695

Publication date:

2.5.2011.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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