The Relationship between Parental Behavioral Involvement and Mathematics Academic Achievement of Primary School Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Interest in Mathematics Learning and Self-education Expectations

Both domestic and international studies have identified parental behavioral involvement as a significant variable influencing students' academic performance. A review of the literature indicates that the mechanism through which parental behavioral involvement affects students' mathematical academic performance remains incompletely understood. Therefore, using survey data from a sample of 265 students across four primary schools in Y City, Xinjiang, this study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) and Bootstrap techniques to analyze the relationships among parental behavioral involvement, mathematical learning interest, self-educational expectations, and mathematical academic performance. The findings are as follows: Parental behavioral involvement, mathematical learning interest, self-educational expectations, and mathematical academic performance each exhibit significant positive pairwise correlations (r = 0.18–0.40, p < 0.001). Both mathematical learning interest and self-educational expectations partially mediate the positive relationship between parental behavioral involvement and mathematical academic performance, with mediating effect values of 0.078 and 0.032, respectively. A chain mediating effect exists between parental behavioral involvement and mathematical academic performance through mathematical learning interest and self-educational expectations, with a mediating effect value of 0.016. The results suggest that parental behavioral involvement among primary school students predicts mathematical academic performance through both direct effects and indirect effects via mathematical learning interest and self-educational expectations.