Parental Involvement during the College Transition: Trajectories and Associations with Academic Success, Well-Being, and Individuation

Guided by the developmental theory of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2004) and life course theory (Elder, 1984), the goals of the current study were to investigate changes in parent involvement, changes in student outcomes, and links between changes in involvement and student outcomes across the first year in college. Parental involvement was defined as a multidimensional construct that included parent support, contact, and academic engagement. Purdue University domestic freshmen (N = 1279; 55% female; 84% Caucasian) participated in this study that included four online surveys that were evenly distributed across the first year. Through this design and the use of latent growth curve modeling (LGM) in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2010), the current study estimated trajectories (intercepts, linear slopes, and quadratic slopes) of parent involvement, student outcomes, and their joint associations. Fixed and random effects were examined to determine intraindividual and interindividual change. Joint association models involved regressing the student outcome slopes onto the involvement slopes. Covariates were included (e.g., student sex), and fit indices were assessed to evaluate models (e.g., Confirmatory Fit Index). Overall results supported hypotheses, and indicated nonlinear declines in parent involvement, changes in student outcomes (exceptions: academic persistence and depression), and links between changes in involvement and student outcomes. Notable findings from joint models indicated increases in involvement were related to increases in depression, steeper increases in risky behaviors, and steeper decreases in individuation across freshman year. Findings contribute to literature on the characteristics of involvement during emerging adulthood and within the context of college, especially how changes in involvement are linked to changes in student outcomes, and offer practical guidance for college parent programming.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Development and Family Studies

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lowe, Katie Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Aryn M Dotterer
• Sharon L Christ
• Shawn D Whiteman
• Helen Patrick

• College
• Emerging Adulthood
• Individuation
• Longitudinal
• Parent Involvement
• Risky Behaviors

Repository record dc:identifier

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1126

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2342