Mothers' academic involvement and children's achievement: Children's theory of intelligence as a mediator

The present study examined whether children's theory of intelligence functioned as a mediating mechanism underlying the effects of mothers' academic involvement on children's achievement and whether children's gender moderated the associations among these variables. A total of 524 Chinese junior high school students participated in this study. Results indicated that mothers' autonomy-supportive involvement was positively correlated and controlling involvement was negatively correlated with children's achievement. These associations were mediated by children's theory of intelligence for both boys and girls. With the mediating role of children's theory of intelligence taken into account, mothers' control was not directly related to boys' or girls' achievement; however, mothers' autonomy support was directly related to girls' but not boys' achievement. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to the literature and their implications for research and practice.