This study explores the intricate relationship between family functioning, emotional bonding, parent-child contact, and academic success among students through a serial mediation analysis. The research, conducted on a sample of 200 participants, sheds light on the indirect pathways through which family dynamics influence academic achievements, emphasizing the significance of emotional connections and parent-child interactions. The findings affirm the positive association between family functioning and academic achievement, in alignment with prior research. Additionally, the study identifies parent-child bonds and contact as partial mediators in this relationship, reinforcing previous findings. A noteworthy discovery is the full complementary sequential mediation effect, revealing that family functioning’s influence on academic success becomes substantial when emotional bonds foster increased parent-child contact. In conclusion, this research underscores the importance of emotional bonds and parent-child contact as sequential mediators, emphasizing their role in translating family dynamics into academic achievements among students. While providing valuable insights, the study acknowledges limitations such as sample size, potential sampling bias, self-reported measures, and a cross-sectional design. Addressing these limitations and expanding the scope of outcomes in future research will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamics within family and educational institutions relationships and their profound impacts on students’ academic success.

Adam EK, Gunnar MR, Tanaka A (2004). Adult attachment, parent emotion, and observed parenting behavior: Mediator and moderator models. Child Development 75(1): 110–122. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00657.x

Ainsworth MDS, Blehar MC, Waters E, Wall SN (2015). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Psychology Press.

Albertini JA, Kelly RR, Matchett MK (2012). Personal factors that influence deaf college students’ academic success. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 17(1): 85–101. doi: 10.1093/deafed/enr016

Annunziata D, Hogue A, Faw L, Liddle HA (2006). Family functioning and school success in at-risk, inner-city adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 35(1): 100–108. doi: 10.1007/s10964-005-9016-3

Bacro F (2012). Perceived attachment security to father, academic self-concept and school performance in language mastery. Journal of Child and Family Studies 21(6): 992–1002. doi: 10.1007/s10826-011-9561-1

Bartholomew K (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7(2): 147–178. doi: 10.1177/0265407590072001

Benoit D (2004). Infant-parent attachment: Definition, types, antecedents, measurement and outcome. Paediatrics & Child Health 9(8): 541–545. doi: 10.1093/pch/9.8.541

Bielaczyc K, Collins A (2009). Learning communities in classrooms: A reconceptualization of educational practice. In: Reigeluth CM. Instructional Design Theories and Models. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Volume 2, pp. 269–291.

Bowlby J (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. Basic Books.

Broderick PC, Jennings PA (2012). Mindfulness for adolescents: A promising approach to supporting emotion regulation and preventing risky behavior. New Directions for Youth Development 2012(136): 111–126.

Carmona-Halty M, Salanova M, Schaufeli WB (2022). The strengthening starts at home: Parent-child relationships, psychological capital, and academic performance—A longitudinal mediation analysis. Current Psychology 41(6): 3788–3796. doi: 10.1007/s12144-020-00898-8

Caspi A, Wright BRE, Moffitt TE, Silva PA (1998). Early failure in the labor market: Childhood and adolescent predictors of unemployment in the transition to adulthood. American Sociological Review 63(3): 424–451. doi: 10.2307/2657557

Chao RK (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development 65(4): 1111–1119. doi: 10.2307/1131308

Chen X, Liu M, Li D (2000). Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology 14(3): 401–419. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.14.3.401

Chirico F, Salvato C (2008). Knowledge integration and dynamic organizational adaptation in family firms. Family Business Review 21(2): 169–181. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-6248.2008.00117.x

Chiș R, Ignat S, Rad D, Macsinga I (2022). The mediation role of an individual’s and couple’s psychological factors, Including parenting in the prediction of relational and marital satisfaction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(17): 11011. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191711011

Cohen J (1988). Set correlation and contingency tables. Applied Psychological Measurement 12(4): 425–434. doi: 10.1177/014662168801200410

Dai L, Wang L (2015). Review of family functioning. Open Journal of Social Sciences 3(12): 134–141. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.312014

Daniel SIF (2006). Adult attachment patterns and individual psychotherapy: A review. Clinical Psychology Review 26(8): 968–984. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2006.02.001

Ding W, Lehrer SF, Rosenquist JN, Audrain-McGovern J (2009). The impact of poor health on academic performance: New evidence using genetic markers. Journal of Health Economics 28(3): 578–597. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.006

Dumka LE, Gonzales NA, Bonds DD, Millsap RE (2009). Academic success of Mexican-origin adolescent boys and girls: The role of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting and cultural orientation. Sex Roles 60(7–8): 588–599. doi: 10.1007/s11199-008-9518-z

Epstein NB, Baldwin LM, Bishop DS (1983). The McMaster family assessment device. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 9(2): 171–180. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.1983.tb01497.x

Epstein NB, Bishop DS, Levin S (1978). The McMaster model of family functioning. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 4(4): 19–31. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.1978.tb00537.x

Epstein NB, Ryan CE, Bishop DS, et al. (2003). The McMaster model: A view of healthy family functioning. In: Walsh F (editor). Normal Family Processes: Growing Diversity and Complexity. The Guilford Press. pp. 581–607.

Fritz CO, Morris PE, Richler JJ (2012). Effect size estimates: current use, calculations, and interpretation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 141(1): 2–18. doi: 10.1037/a0024338

Gao Y, Li D, Zhou Y, et al. (2020). The relationship between family functioning and academic achievement in Chinese university students: The mediating role of coping style. Frontiers in Psychology 11: 1152.

Gilman SE, Kawachi I, Fitzmaurice GM, Buka SL (2003). Socio-economic status, family disruption and residential stability in childhood: relation to onset, recurrence and remission of major depression. Psychological Medicine 33(8): 1341–1355. doi: 10.1017/s0033291703008377

Hauser RM (1994). Measuring socioeconomic status in studies of child development. Child Development 65(6): 1541–1545. doi: 10.2307/1131279

Hautsalo K, Rantanen A, Astedt-Kurki P (2013). Family functioning, health and social support assessed by aged home care clients and their family members. Journal of Clinical Nursing 22(19–20): 2953–2963. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04335.x

Hayes AF (2022). PROCESS Procedure for SPSS, Version 4.0. Guilford Press.

Honicke T, Broadbent J (2016). The influence of academic self-efficacy on academic performance: A systematic review. Educational Research Review 17: 63–84. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2015.11.002

Hussong AM, Midgette AJ, Richards AN, et al. (2022). COVID-19 life events spill-over on family functioning and adolescent adjustment. The Journal of Early Adolescence 42(3): 359–388. doi: 10.1177/02724316211036744

Iosim I, Runcan P, Runcan R, et al. (2022). The impact of parental external labour migration on the social sustainability of the next generation in developing countries. Sustainability 14(8): 4616. doi: 10.3390/su14084616

Jacobvitz D, Curran M, Moller N (2002). Measurement of adult attachment: The place of self-report and interview methodologies. Attachment & Human Development 4(2): 207–215. doi: 10.1080/14616730210154225

Jaiswal SK (2017). Role of parental involvement and some strategies that promote parental involvement. Journal of International Academic Research for Multidisciplinary 5(2): 95–104.

Jeffrey Hill E, Jacob JI, Shannon LL, et al. (2008). Exploring the relationship of workplace flexibility, gender, and life stage to family-to-work conflict, and stress and burnout. Community, Work and Family 11(2): 165–181. doi: 10.1080/13668800802027564

Kim AS, Choi S, Park S (2020). Heterogeneity in first-generation college students influencing academic success and adjustment to higher education. The Social Science Journal 57(3): 288–304. doi: 10.1016/j.soscij.2018.12.002

Kumar R, Lal R (2014). Study of academic achievement in relation to family environment among adolescents. The International Journal of Indian Psychology 2(1): 146–155. doi: 10.25215/0201.074

Lavee Y, McCubbin HI, Olson DH (1987). The effect of stressful life events and transitions on family functioning and well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family 49(4): 857–873. doi: 10.2307/351979

Lee CKC, Beatty SE (2002). Family structure and influence in family decision making. Journal of Consumer Marketing 19(1): 24–41. doi: 10.1108/07363760210414934

Leung K, Lau S, Lam WL (1998). Parenting styles and academic achievement: A cross-cultural study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 44(2): 157–172.

Li, J., & Li, X. (2018). Parent-child attachment, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement: A mediation model. Psychological Reports, 121(3), 471-486.

Li J, Huang J, Hu Z, Zhao X (2022). Parent-child relationships and academic performance of college students: Chain-mediating roles of gratitude and psychological capital. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 794201. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.794201

Lieberman AF, Padrón E, Van Horn P, Harris WW (2005). Angels in the nursery: The intergenerational transmission of benevolent parental influences. Infant Mental Health Journal 26(6): 504–520. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20071

Main M, Kaplan N, Cassidy J (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50(1/2): 66–104. doi: 10.2307/3333827

Marici M, Clipa O, Runcan R, Iosim I (2022). Perceptions of parenting during the COVID-19 quarantine period, in Suceava, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Romania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(23): 16188. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316188

Marici M, Clipa O, Schipor MD, et al. (2023). Offering and asking for help with domestic chores in couple relationships. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(4): 3708. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043708

McDermott DR (2007). Developing Caring Relationships Among Parents, Children, Schools, and Communities. SAGE Publications.

McFarlane AH, Bellissimo A, Norman GR (1995). Family structure, family functioning and adolescent well-being: The transcendent influence of parental style. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 36(5): 847–864. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01333.x

Miller IW, Epstein NB, Bishop DS, Keitner GI (1985). The McMaster family assessment device: Reliability and validity. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 11(4): 345–356. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.1985.tb00028.x

Munyon TP, Madden LT, Madden TM, Vigoda-Gadot E (2019). (Dys)functional attachments?: How community embeddedness impacts workers during and after long-term unemployment. Journal of Vocational Behavior 112: 35–50. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2019.01.005

Nadolu D, Runcan R, Bahnaru A (2020). Sociological dimensions of marital satisfaction in Romania. PloS One 15(8): e0237923. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237923

Needham BL, Crosnoe R, Muller C (2004). Academic failure in secondary school: The inter-related role of health problems and educational context. Social Problems 51(4): 569–586. doi: 10.1525/sp.2004.51.4.569

Parsasirat Z, Montazeri M, Yusooff F, et al. (2013). The most effective kinds of parents on children's academic achievement. Asian Social Science 9(13): 229. doi: 10.5539/ass.v9n13p229

Pong SL, Johnston J, Chen V (2010). Authoritarian parenting and Asian adolescent school performance: Insights from the US and Taiwan. International Journal of Behavioral Development 34(1): 62–72. doi: 10.1177/0165025409345073

Raikes HA, Thompson RA (2006). Family emotional climate, attachment security and young children’s emotion knowledge in a high risk sample. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 24(1): 89–104. doi: 10.1348/026151005x70427

Rezaei-Dehaghani A, Keshvari M, Paki S (2018). The relationship between family functioning and academic achievement in female high school students of Isfahan, Iran, in 2013–2014. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research 23(3): 183–187. doi: 10.4103/ijnmr.IJNMR_87_17

Rodríguez S, Piñeiro I, Gómez-Taibo ML, et al. (2017). An explanatory model of maths achievement: Perceived parental involvement and academic motivation. Psicothema 29(2): 184–190. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2017.32

Rousta Z, Esfandiari Bayat D, AyyaziNia A (2014). A comparison of family communication patterns and time management between two groups of students with either academic success or failure. Journal of Novel Applied Sciences 3(8): 908–914.

Scharfe E, Bartholomew KIM (1994). Reliability and stability of adult attachment patterns. Personal Relationships 1(1): 23–43. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1994.tb00053.x

Serbin LA, Stack DM, Kingdon D (2013). Academic success across the transition from primary to secondary schooling among lower-income adolescents: Understanding the effects of family resources and gender. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 42(9): 1331–1347. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-9987-4

Tanaka Y (1999). Development of the Parental Attachment Scale. The Japanese Journal of Psychology 70(6): 449–455.

Tanaka Y (2020). The development of a parental attachment recognition scale for mothers nurturing preschool children. Public Health Nursing 37(2): 310–320. doi: 10.1111/phn.12697

Tanaka Y, Wekerle C. (2003). The development of the parental attachment scale: An examination of its associations with adolescent social support and health. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(5): 373–381.

Toor KK (2018). Parent-child relationship and students’ academic achievement: A study of secondary school students. MIER Journal of Educational Studies Trends and Practices 8(1): 38–56. doi: 10.52634/mier/2018/v8/i1/1418

Tran Y (2014). Addressing reciprocity between families and schools: Why these bridges are instrumental for students’ academic success. Improving Schools 17(1): 18–29.

Tsela D, Tsela RD, López IG (2022). Relations between parenting style and parenting practices and children’s school achievement. Social Sciences 12(1): 5. doi: 10.3390/socsci12010005

Walker J, Marjoribanks D, Misca G (2019). Modern families, modern family justice: Supporting family relationships in fast‐changing socio‐political‐economic climates (Summary of the Report of the Consultation at St George's House, Windsor, February 12–13, 2018). Family Court Review 57(3): 301–312. doi: 10.1111/fcre.12438

Walker R, Bantebya-Kyomuhendo G (2014). The Shame of Poverty. Oxford University Press.

Wan Zulkifli WN, Ishak NA, Mat Saad Z (2017). The reliability of McMaster family assesment device (Fad) instruments among delinquent teenagers. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 22(7): 40–43.

Weldon W (2011). An essay book review of parental involvement and academic success. School Community Journal 21(1): 177.

Yamamoto Y, Holloway SD (2010). Parental expectations and children’s academic performance in sociocultural context. Educational Psychology Review 22(3): 189–214. doi: 10.1007/s10648-010-9121-z

Zeanah CH, Berlin LJ, Boris NW (2011). Practitioner review: Clinical applications of attachment theory and research for infants and young children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52(8): 819–833. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02399.x