Raižienė, Saulė

Many parents continue to provide financial assistance to their emerging adult children, which has particular links with emerging adults’ well-being. The current study examined how form and level of parental financial support shape need-supportive and -thwarting parenting and well-being of emerging adults. Participants in this short-term longitudinal study were 600 Lithuanian emerging adults (M age = 24.94, SD age = 3.03, range 19–29 years; 52.3% females), recruited from online survey panel using the controlled quota sampling strategy. The latent profile analysis identified four profiles characterizing dependence on parental financial support: entirely dependent, mostly dependent, dependent on direct support, and financially self-sufficient. Reliance on both employment income and parental support was linked to unfavorable parenting and poorer well-being, while reliance only on direct support was linked to more favorable parenting and well-being. The findings demonstrate the importance of differentiating between forms of parental financial support.

This study aimed to identify profiles of academic support (help frequency, positive affect, and autonomy support) that teachers and parents provide for children and examine their associations with children's task persistence in Grades 2 and 3 after controlling for children's gender, academic performance, and parents’ educational level. Altogether, 614 children participated in the study (48 % girls). Their parents (n = 576) reported on academic support at home at the end of Grade 3 (T2). Their teachers (n = 40) rated academic support that they provided for each child in their class at the end of Grade 3 (T2). At each measurement occasion (T1 and T2), teachers rated children's task persistence. First, latent profile analysis identified four teacher-parent academic support profiles in Grade 3 (T2): High teacher positive affect (37.5 %); Average help, autonomy, and positive affect (26.3 %); Moderately low teacher positive affect (32 %): and Very low teacher positive affect (4.2 %). Second, the results indicated that the more persistent children were in Grade 2, the more likely they were to belong to teacher-parent academic support profiles characterized by lower help, average autonomy, and higher positive affect in Grade 3. Third, for children belonging to the High teacher positive affect profile, task persistence improved between Grades 2 and 3.

This study aimed to identify profiles of achievement goal orientations and transitions between these profiles among adolescents from different socioeconomic backgrounds before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. A sample of 1268 adolescents (51.7% females; Mage = 14.87; SDage = 0.39) participated in four waves of data collection: One took place pre-pandemic (at the start of 9th grade) and three took place during the Covid-19 pandemic. Latent transition analyses revealed four profiles of achievement goal orientations at each study wave: moderately motivated, success-oriented, mastery-oriented, and unmotivated. Most adolescents remained in the same profile or transitioned to a similar one across subsequent study waves. However, some more substantive, mostly unfavourable patterns of transitions between the profiles were also observed, especially among highly motivated adolescents. The latter patterns coincided with pandemic-related online learning periods. Results also showed a large motivational disadvantage among students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, which was particularly pronounced before the pandemic, but remained salient throughout the study

The present study investigated the interplay between teachers' (n = 40) and parents' (n = 606) self-reported quantity (frequency of help), and quality (positive affect while assisting a child) of academic support and teacher rated children's task persistence (n = 647). In the fall semester of Grade 2 children completed academic performance tests. Teachers and parents filled out questionnaires in the fall and spring semesters of Grade 2. First, the results showed that the frequency of teachers' and parents' help did not significantly predict teacher perceived children's task persistence, whereas teachers' and parents' positive affect while assisting a child contributed to the children's higher task persistence. Second, the results revealed that the effect of the frequency of teachers' help on teacher perceived children's task persistence is moderated by their positive affect while assisting a child. Finally, teachers and parents responded to lower children's task persistence by providing more frequent help, and parents responded with more positive affect when children's task persistence was high. Educational relevance statement: The current study confirms that both home and school contexts play a meaningful role in second graders' task persistence development by simultaneously taking into account the effect of the quantity (frequency of help) and quality (positive affect) of teachers' and parents' academic support. Results suggest that teachers' and parents' quality of academic support (positive affect) is critical in shaping more persistent children's behavior with the tasks according to the teachers' reports. Meanwhile, while the frequency of help seems not to have a unique effect on teacher perceived children's task persistence, it appears significant in interaction with teachers' positive affect, indicating that children remain the most persistent with the tasks when teachers are high in positive affect (joy and satisfaction) and low in the frequency of help. Further, as teachers' and parents' academic support is significant for teacher perceived children's task persistence, teacher perceived children's task persistence also seems to be an important factor in evoking teachers' and parents' academic support. Specifically, low children's task persistence triggers more frequent help from teachers with classwork and from parents with homework. In terms of positive affect, higher children's task persistence evokes more joy and satisfaction only for parents. Thus, the reciprocal associations investigation of two different teachers' and parents' academic support dimensions provide a better understanding of how both teachers and parents together can support children's task persistence during Grade 2. In sum, teachers and parents should monitor how frequently they offer help to children, focusing more on keeping a positive learning atmosphere by demonstrating joy and satisfaction.