The impact of family’s human, material, and social capital on Korean children’s academic stress: The mediating effect of career maturity

This study explores how family resources impact children’s academic stress, with career maturity as a mediating variable. It utilized data from the 14th wave of the Panel Study on Korean Children. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression assessed the variables. Baron and Kenny’s procedure and Sobel’s test evaluated the mediating effects. Children’s academic stress correlated positively with monthly household income, private tutoring expenses, and parental achievement pressure and negatively with parental educational support and career maturity; achievement pressure exerted the strongest influence. Parental educational support and achievement pressure directly affected academic stress; career maturity partially mediated the indirect effect. The study emphasizes the role of private tutoring, career maturity, and strategies to mitigate academic stress.