Parent-adolescent interaction: influence on the academic achievement of African American adolescent males.

As the achievement gap between African American and while students persists, an examination of factors outside the school setting are essential. Acknowledging the dynamics of family environment as perceived by African American adolescent males is apposite to understanding the relationship between family environment and academic achievement. Utilizing an ecological perspective, this study describes the characteristics of family process variables and analyzes the adolescents' perception of parent-adolescent interaction and its influence on their psychological well-being. Results indicate that a substantial proportion of the 179 adolescent males who perceived parent-adolescent interaction as positive and were identified as having a stable psychological well-being, were more likely to have average to above-average grade point averages, high Stanford Nine scores and high achievement group membership, than those adolescent males who did not perceive parent-adolescent interaction as positive.