A model of mastery motivation for at-risk preschoolers.

The authors empirically tested a theoretical model of mastery motivation with 169 4-year-old African American at-risk children and their parents. The authors hypothesized that (a) parent characteristics (exogenous variables of education, income, and global self-efficacy) would predict parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, (b) parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships would predict childrenʹs mastery, and (c) childrenʹs mastery would predict academic gains from pretest to posttest. The results showed that parentsʹ education predicted parenting beliefs, parentsʹ global self-efficacy predicted parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, parenting beliefs predicted parent-child relationships, parent-child relationships predicted childrenʹs mastery, and childrenʹs mastery predicted childrenʹs performance on achievement tests controlling for pretest differences. This research provides support for the contention that motivational patterns develop early as a function of family variables and have the potential to influence academic success.