Adolescents’ and parents’ perceptions of parental monitoring as predictors of academic functioning at the end of high school

Authors

  • Guillaume Gagné-Legault Université du Québec à Montréal
  • Catherine Cimon-Paquet Université du Québec à Montréal
  • Marie-Hélène Véronneau Université du Québec à Montréal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2670-735X

Keywords:

family relations, parental involvement, academic achievement, educational success, school motivation, adolescent development

Abstract

This article examines how parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parental solicitation and control can be used to predict academic achievement and engagement. Hierarchical regressions on 133 parent-child dyads (66% girls; mean age: 16.88 years) indicate that adolescents’ perceptions of parental control are significantly related to their academic engagement and achievement, in contrast to perceived solicitation, which is only marginally related to engagement. Parents’ perceptions of their monitoring strategies, however, do not predict adolescents’ academic functioning. Thus, it would be important to consider adolescents’ perceptions of parental monitoring in interventions aimed at improving academic functioning in high school students.

Author Biographies

Guillaume Gagné-Legault, Université du Québec à Montréal

is a Master’s student in psychoeducation at the Université de Montréal in the CAFE programme (Crisis-Adolescence-Family-Childhood). He previously completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, during which he conducted the present study as part of his honours thesis. His current Master’s thesis focuses on adolescent antisocial behaviour and how it may be predicted by antisocial peer affiliation, peer rejection, and depressive symptoms. guillaume.gagne-legault@courrier.umontreal.ca

Catherine Cimon-Paquet, Université du Québec à Montréal

is a postdoctoral researcher at Université Laval and holds a PhD in psychology from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Her research interests include interpersonal relationships, human development, and educational pathways. This work was supported by doctoral fellowships from the Québec Research Funds (award number 2021-B2Z-281986) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (award number 207-2021-2022-Q1-02294). cimon_paquet.catherine@courrier.uqam.ca

Marie-Hélène Véronneau, Université du Québec à Montréal

is a full professor in the Department of psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, holder of the UQAM Chair on the promotion of well-being during academic and post-academic transitions, and director of the Educational Pathways and Social Influences Laboratory (LÉPSIS). Her research interests include educational success, mental health and emotional competence, which she studies in child, adolescent, and adult populations using a developmental perspective. She carried out this study with the support of the Quebec Research Fund, society and culture sector (establishment of new professor-researchers, 2013-NP-167302, and support for research teams, 2013-SE-164393), and Health sector (establishment of young researchers, 28802, and research scholar award junior 1 and 2, 26858 and 266652). veronneau.marie-helene@uqam.ca

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2025-03-02

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Gagné-Legault, G., Cimon-Paquet, C., & Véronneau, M.-H. (2025). Adolescents’ and parents’ perceptions of parental monitoring as predictors of academic functioning at the end of high school. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill. Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/10102

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