Changes in family socio-economic status as predictors of self-efficacy in 13-year-old Polish adolescents

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine the impact that raised mother’s education and a relative change in family affluence might have on adolescent general self-efficacy (GSE). METHODS: Data on 600 children born in Poland in January 1995 and their families were used. Data from early childhood and adolescence (2008) were considered and the change between these two periods was determined. RESULTS: Family affluence increased in 37.3 % of families with mothers, who had raised their education level (12.6 % of the sample), in comparison to 26.8 % in the group with no change, p < 0.001. The average GSE scores in those groups were 73.4 and 68.1, respectively, p < 0.001. In the best linear regression model adjusted for gender, the independent predictors of GSE turned out to be mother’s education change and the family’s current affluence. CONCLUSIONS: Raised mother’s education level may encourage building up developmental assets in older children. Based on the structural model, where self-efficacy is the mediator of the relationship between socio-economic status change and the quality of life (KIDSCREEN-10) these results may be of importance in further research.