How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? A Study Based on a Survey of Home Education of Junior Secondary School Students in 8 Provinces and Cities

Drawing on a 2022 survey of home education of junior secondary school students in China’ eight provincial administrative regions, this study seeks to examine the chief factors influencing the generation of education anxiety in Chinese middle-class parents using a moderated mediation model. Research findings include that: (1) education anxiety is pervasive among middle-class parents who exhibit high levels of education anxiety but low levels of education involvement; (2) the parent’s perception of educational stratification can significantly predict their education anxiety; (3) the relationship between the parent’s perception of educational stratification and their education anxiety is mediated by their expectation of child education; (4) the parent’s perception of educational competition has a moderating effect on the relationship between their educational expectation and education anxiety.