Examining the Relationship between Parenting Styles and Parental Math Involvement: The Role of Parental Math Beliefs

Although some studies have investigated the mechanisms connecting parenting styles to parental math involvement in older age groups, no research has specifically examined this relationship during early childhood (ages of 36-71 months). This study examined the relationships between parenting styles, parental math beliefs, and parental math involvement. A cross-sectional quantitative study design tested a mediation model, hypothesizing that parenting styles indirectly influence parental math involvement through parental math beliefs. Participants included 746 parents from various cities across T & uuml;rkiye. Validated scales, including the Parental Attitude Scale, and the Early Math Questionnaire were used to measure parenting styles, parental math beliefs, and parental math involvement. The results revealed that parental math involvement was positively associated with authoritative parenting styles but negatively associated with authoritarian styles. Parental math beliefs mediated the relationship between authoritative parenting styles and math involvement; however, this mediation effect was not observed for authoritarian styles. This mediation held after controlling for children's age, parents' education, and math storybook presence. Additionally, children's age was positively associated with parental math involvement, whereas parents' education levels and the presence of a math storybook at home were negatively associated. These findings suggest that promoting authoritative parenting styles and enhancing parental math beliefs can positively influence parental math involvement. This highlights the importance of educational programs designed to improve both parenting practices and math-related beliefs. Specifically, such programs should encourage parenting practices that combine emotional warmth and minimal rejection with strong parental math beliefs, thereby fostering more effective involvement in children's math learning.