Family resources and school performance: an analysis of associated factors in middle school adolescents

PURPOSE: To verify the association between family resources, sociodemographic aspects, and school performance in middle school students. METHODS: Observational, analytical, cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample stratified by sex, age, and grade in school. A total of 124 adolescents of both sexes, aged 11 to 14 years, enrolled in a private middle school participated in the study. We sent to their parents/guardians an online form with the Home Environment Resources Scale (HER), Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria (CCEB), and sociodemographic questions. The school performance was furnished by the institution. We used frequency distribution analysis of categorical variables and measures of central tendency and dispersion of the continuous ones. We used the Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation coefficient tests and set the significance level at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Most of the sample was 11 years old, females, sixth graders, with very good school performance, belonging to social class A, and whose householder had a bachelor’s degree. Age and grade in school were associated with interaction with the parents, “family-school connection”, and total HER score. The “proximal processes” had a moderate positive correlation with outings and toys. There was a moderate positive correlation between total HER score and “predictable activities that indicate stability”. The “proximal processes” had a strong positive correlation with “family-school connection”. There was a weak positive correlation between books available at home and school performance. CONCLUSION: The family resources were related to the adolescents’ school performance.