









































 

 

 

 

 

 

How Is Middle-Class Parents’ 
Education Anxiety Generated? A Study 
Based on a Survey of Home Education 

of Junior Secondary School 
Students in 8 Provinces and Cities 

Jingya Luo, Xinzhuo Zhu 

 
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China 

 

Abstract: Drawing on a 2022 survey of home education of junior 
secondary school students in China’ eight provincial administrative 
regions, this study seeks to examine the chief factors influencing the 
generation of education anxiety in Chinese middle-class parents 
using a moderated mediation model. Research findings include 
that: (1) education anxiety is pervasive among middle-class parents 
who exhibit high levels of education anxiety but low levels of 
education involvement; (2) the parent’s perception of educational 
stratification can significantly predict their education anxiety; (3) 
the relationship between the parent’s perception of educational 
stratification and their education anxiety is mediated by their 
expectation of child education; (4) the parent’s perception of 
educational competition has a moderating effect on the relationship 
between their educational expectation and education anxiety. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2024; 18(2):1907-1911 
DOI: 10.15354/bece.24.ar138 

How to Cite: Luo, J., & Zhu, X. (2024). How Is Middle-Class Parents’ 
Education Anxiety Generated? A Study Based on a Survey of Home Education 
of Junior Secondary School Students in 8 Provinces and Cities. Best Evidence 
in Chinese Education, 2024, 18(2):1907-1911. 

Keywords: Parental Educational Anxiety, Educational Stratification, Middle-Class 
Parents, Parental Involvement 

 

 

ARTICLE 



Luo & Zhu. (China). How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? 

BECE, Vol.18, No.2, 2024 1908 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Correspondence to: Xinzhuo Zhu, School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 
430074, China, E-mail: 57097061@qq.com 
Conflict of Interests: None 
Funding: No funding sources declared. 
AI Declaration: The author affirms that artificial intelligence did not contribute to the process of preparing the 
work. 
 
 
 
 

© 2024 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Creative Commons NonCommercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License 

(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 
the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. 

mailto:57097061@qq.com
http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/


Luo & Zhu. (China). How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? 

BECE, Vol.18, No.2, 2024 1909 

Introduction 
DUCATION anxiety is currently pervasive among Chinese parents, 
particularly Chinese middle-class parents, who are typically overly 
concerned with the role of education in social stratification and 

mobility (i.e., their perceptions of education stratification). Middle-class 
parents pay inordinate attention to the education of their children, leading to 
an ongoing increase in education anxiety among them. This study focuses on 
examining the chief factors for the generation of middle-class parents’ 
education anxiety with the view to offering implications for education 
anxiety alleviation in this group. 
 
Research Hypotheses 
H 1: The parent’s perception of educational stratification is an effective 
predictor of their education anxiety. Those who endorse educational 
stratification have higher levels of anxiety about their children’s education. 
 
H 2: The parent’s educational expectation mediates the relationship between 
their perception of educational stratification and their education anxiety. 
 
H 3: The parent’s perception of educational competition has a moderating 
effect on the relationship between their educational expectations and 
education anxiety. The correlation between educational expectations and 
education anxiety is more significant among parents with more intense 
feelings of educational competition. 

Research Methodology 

Data Sources 
This study sourced data from a 2022 survey of home education of junior 
secondary school students in eight provincial administrative regions by the 
research group of the project “Education Anxiety of the New-Generation 
Middle-Class Parents,” supported by the China National Social Sciences 
Fund. In this study, we define the middle class as the group of people who 
are employed as middle- and lower-level cadres in public organizations and 
middle-level management of large businesses, with a college or above 
education background and with an annual household income of 100,000 - 
960,000 RMB. According to these screening criteria, a sample of 4,913 
middle-class families was obtained. 

Establishing Variables 

E 



Luo & Zhu. (China). How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? 

BECE, Vol.18, No.2, 2024 1910 

In this study, the parent’s perception of educational stratification is the 
independent variable, indicated by the degree to which the interviewed 
parent agrees with the notion that education is the most important channel 
for social mobility. Parental educational anxiety is the dependent variable, 
measured with the Parental Educational Anxiety Scale developed by the said 
research group. The parent’s educational expectation is the mediation 
variable, indicated by the parent’s attitudes toward their children’s 
enrollment in general high schools, prestigious high schools, and top-rank 
universities. The parent’s perception of educational competition is the 
moderation variable. In addition, this study controls family-related as well as 
student-related factors that can potentially affect the parent’s education 
anxiety. 

Data Analysis 
The study conducts empirical analysis of the theoretical models it proposes 
using the SPSS PROCESS program developed by Hayes and the path 
analysis method. Model 4 is used to test the mediating effect of the parent’s 
educational expectation on the relationship between their perception of 
educational stratification and their education anxiety. Model 14 is used to 
test the moderating effect of the parent’s perception of educational 
competition on the relationship between their educational expectation and 
their education anxiety.  

Research Findings 
(i) Education anxiety is pervasive among Chinese middle-class parents, who 
display high levels of education anxiety and low education involvement. The 
child’s academic performance and physical and mental health are the 
primary sources of education anxiety of the parent; supervision of the child’s 
homework completion is the chief form of parental educational involvement. 
(ii) The parent’s endorsement of educational stratification positively predicts 
their education anxiety. (iii) The parent’s educational expectation mediates 
the relationship between their perception of educational stratification and 
education anxiety, and the direct mediating effect is much higher than the 
indirect effect. (iv) The parent’s perception of educational competition 
moderates the relationship between their educational expectation and 
education anxiety. 
 
 

 

 



Luo & Zhu. (China). How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? 

BECE, Vol.18, No.2, 2024 1911 

The Chinese version of this article has been published in Education & Economy, 40(2):40-49. The 
English version has been authorized for being publication in BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese 
journal. 

骆婧雅, 朱新卓. (2024). 中产阶层家长教育焦虑是如何形成的?——基于 8 省市初中生家庭教育
状况的调查. 教育与经济, 40(2):40-49. 

 

 
 

Received: November 01, 2024 
Revised: November 07, 2024 

Accepted: November 11, 2024

 


	How Is Middle-Class Parents’ Education Anxiety Generated? A Study Based on a Survey of Home Education of Junior Secondary School
	Students in 8 Provinces and Cities
	Jingya Luo, Xinzhuo Zhu
	8BJingya Luo, Xinzhuo Zhu
	Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
	9BHuazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
	Keywords: Parental Educational Anxiety, Educational Stratification, Middle-Class Parents, Parental Involvement
	Correspondence to: Xinzhuo Zhu, School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China, E-mail: 57097061@qq.com
	Conflict of Interests: None
	Funding: No funding sources declared.
	AI Declaration: The author affirms that artificial intelligence did not contribute to the process of preparing the work.
	© 2024 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved.
	Creative Commons NonCommercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher.
	Introduction
	E
	DUCATION anxiety is currently pervasive among Chinese parents, particularly Chinese middle-class parents, who are typically overly concerned with the role of education in social stratification and mobility (i.e., their perceptions of education stratification). Middle-class parents pay inordinate attention to the education of their children, leading to an ongoing increase in education anxiety among them. This study focuses on examining the chief factors for the generation of middle-class parents’ education anxiety with the view to offering implications for education anxiety alleviation in this group.
	Research Hypotheses
	H 1: The parent’s perception of educational stratification is an effective predictor of their education anxiety. Those who endorse educational stratification have higher levels of anxiety about their children’s education.
	H 2: The parent’s educational expectation mediates the relationship between their perception of educational stratification and their education anxiety.
	H 3: The parent’s perception of educational competition has a moderating effect on the relationship between their educational expectations and education anxiety. The correlation between educational expectations and education anxiety is more significant among parents with more intense feelings of educational competition.
	Research Methodology
	Data Sources
	This study sourced data from a 2022 survey of home education of junior secondary school students in eight provincial administrative regions by the research group of the project “Education Anxiety of the New-Generation Middle-Class Parents,” supported by the China National Social Sciences Fund. In this study, we define the middle class as the group of people who are employed as middle- and lower-level cadres in public organizations and middle-level management of large businesses, with a college or above education background and with an annual household income of 100,000 - 960,000 RMB. According to these screening criteria, a sample of 4,913 middle-class families was obtained.
	Establishing Variables
	In this study, the parent’s perception of educational stratification is the independent variable, indicated by the degree to which the interviewed parent agrees with the notion that education is the most important channel for social mobility. Parental educational anxiety is the dependent variable, measured with the Parental Educational Anxiety Scale developed by the said research group. The parent’s educational expectation is the mediation variable, indicated by the parent’s attitudes toward their children’s enrollment in general high schools, prestigious high schools, and top-rank universities. The parent’s perception of educational competition is the moderation variable. In addition, this study controls family-related as well as student-related factors that can potentially affect the parent’s education anxiety.
	Data Analysis
	The study conducts empirical analysis of the theoretical models it proposes using the SPSS PROCESS program developed by Hayes and the path analysis method. Model 4 is used to test the mediating effect of the parent’s educational expectation on the relationship between their perception of educational stratification and their education anxiety. Model 14 is used to test the moderating effect of the parent’s perception of educational competition on the relationship between their educational expectation and their education anxiety. 
	Research Findings
	(i) Education anxiety is pervasive among Chinese middle-class parents, who display high levels of education anxiety and low education involvement. The child’s academic performance and physical and mental health are the primary sources of education anxiety of the parent; supervision of the child’s homework completion is the chief form of parental educational involvement. (ii) The parent’s endorsement of educational stratification positively predicts their education anxiety. (iii) The parent’s educational expectation mediates the relationship between their perception of educational stratification and education anxiety, and the direct mediating effect is much higher than the indirect effect. (iv) The parent’s perception of educational competition moderates the relationship between their educational expectation and education anxiety.
	Received: November 01, 2024
	Revised: November 07, 2024
	Accepted: November 11, 2024

