Effects of parenting styles on academic achievement: The moderating role of a country's economic development

Although numerous studies have examined the relationship between parenting styles and academic achievement in different socio-cultural contexts, the moderating role of specific macro contextual characteristics remains understudied. This cross-national study examined the effects of three parenting styles on two aspects of academic achievement (self-reported average grade and educational attainment) in a sample of adolescents and young adults from ten Southeast European countries (N = 10,909) and tested whether the associations were moderated by economic development as an indicator of socio-cultural context. Results indicated that country-level authoritative parenting style was positively associated with both academic outcomes, while authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were negatively associated (authoritarian with both outcomes, permissive only with educational attainment). Furthermore, the country's higher economic development increased the positive impact by authoritative parenting and decreased the negative impact by authoritarian parenting style on educational attainment. Study results provide evidence of the importance of contextual characteristics in which parenting takes place, especially for adolescents’ and young adults’ long-term educational outcomes. The results are discussed in terms of importance of general value orientations and life goals for the varying effects of parenting styles on educational attainment.