Family structure and family satisfaction as factors of adolescents’ autonomous motivation, cheating, and academic achievement

There is considerable evidence showing that children growing up in two-parent intact families are more academically successful than children from other family structures. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between family structure and academic achievement. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the role of satisfaction with family relationships as a mediator of the associations of family structure with academic motivation, attitude toward school, and academic achievement. Using a representative sample of Russian adolescents in grades 5–9 (N = 2,402; M age = 12.99, SD = 1.54; 51% girls, 49% boys), we analyzed indicators of academic motivation, homework motivation, persistence, academic achievement, and satisfaction with family relationships among adolescents from three characteristic types of family: intact families (N = 1,757), single-mother families (N = 465), and stepfather families (N = 180). The results show that adolescents from single-mother and stepfather families form a homogeneous group that differs from children from intact families in terms of satisfaction with family relationships, autonomous academic motivation, persistence, attitude toward school, homework cheating and academic achievement, all of which are higher among adolescents from intact families. Furthermore, compared to adolescents from intact families, adolescents from single-mother and stepfather families exhibit greater amotivation, are prone to cheating on homework, and have a less positive attitude toward school. Structural modeling reveals a system of family and motivational factors associated with academic attainment. It is primarily shown that satisfaction with family is a partial mediator of the associations of family structure with autonomous motivation, persistence, and academic achievement. The practical implications of the study are that satisfaction with family relationships can mitigate the risks of adverse development and low achievement in children growing up in single-mother and stepfather families. The results highlight the importance of psychological work with parents of children from single-mother and stepfather families.