Enhancing Children’s Reading Time: The Role of Maternal Self-Esteem,Educational Involvement,and Academic Stress / Fomento del tiempo de lectura infantil: el rol de la autoestima maternal,la participación materna en la educación de los niños y el estrés académico infantil

This study examines the relationship between maternal self-esteem and children’s reading time, mediated sequentially by maternal educational involvement and children’s academic stress. Using a large (N = 1,190) sample of Korean sixth-grade elementary students, M_age = 12.23 years, from the thirteenth wave of the Panel Study on Korean Children (2020), this study conducted a mediation analysis. The findings indicate that higher maternal self-esteem is associated with greater maternal educational involvement, which is in turn related to lower levels of children’s academic stress and linked to increased reading time. These patterns are notable in the context of sixth-grade students—the final year of elementary school in Korea—where parental involvement may still be perceived as encouraging rather than controlling. The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period in which home-based support may have been salient due to the combination of in-person and remote learning. These associations remained significant after controlling for mother’s employment status, mother’s education, children’s gender and household income. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of how to foster a positive reading environment for children.