Parental self-efficacy is an essential predictor of beneficial parenting practices, parenting skills, and positive child development (Albanese et al., 2019; Ardelt & Eccles, 2001; P. K. Coleman & Karraker, 2000; T. L. Jones & Prinz, 2005; Schuengel & Oosterman, 2019; Stievenart & Martinez Perez, 2020; Verhage et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2014; Wittkowski et al., 2017). It describes the parents’ belief in their efficaciousness in influencing the child and its environment in such a way that it supports child development (Ardelt & Eccles, 2001). Parental self-efficacy as a parental belief (Sigel & McGillicuddy–De Lisi, 2002) is part of the home learning environment. The home learning environment has proven to be an important factor for beneficial child development and later school performance (Kluczniok et al., 2013; Lehrl et al., 2012; Sammons et al., 2015; Tamis- LeMonda et al., 2017). Studies indicate that the home learning environment can be structured into structural family characteristics (e.g., socio-economic background or family language), beliefs (e.g., parental self-efficacy), and processes or process quality (e.g., parent-child activities), whereby the processes have a direct effect on child development (Anders et al., 2011; Kluczniok et al., 2013; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2003). This thesis follows the structure of the home learning environment, called the home learning environment model, and presents its component’s interrelationships. In the first study, the construct of parental self-efficacy is investigated in more detail. The construct of parental self-efficacy and, in particular, its content-specificity is not well understood: Parental self-efficacy can either refer to parents’ general perception of how well they judge themselves in their role as parents or refer to a specific parental task. To investigate this, it was tested whether (a) general and task-related parental self-efficacy could be assessed separately or (b) be mapped in a hierarchical model. Results indicate that general and task-related parental self-efficacy are separate dimensions. Furthermore, general and task-related parental self-efficacy were tested for differences in family characteristics. Results suggested that parents with a non-German family language experienced lower general parental self-efficacy and perceived themselves to be less self-efficacious in caring for a sick child. Parents with a university degree felt more efficacious in communicating a responsible media use but less efficacious in caring for a sick child than parents who did not have a university degree. The second study investigated the relationship of parental self-efficacy with family characteristics and home learning activities of native-born German parents and parents with a Turkish immigration background. Little is known (a) about the relationships between structural characteristics, parental self-efficacy, and home learning activities, especially for Turkish immigrant families with average educational levels and income, and (b) whether parental self-efficacy and home learning activities and their relationship are affected by the parents’ immigration background. Results showed that parental self-efficacy and the educational level but not the immigration background were significant predictors of home learning activities. The immigration background was related to the number of home learning activities via parental self-efficacy. However, there was no direct relationship between the immigration background and the home learning activities. This indicates the importance of parental self-efficacy for home learning activities regardless of the immigration background. Surprisingly, parents with a Turkish immigration background felt significantly more self-efficacious than native-born German parents. The third study investigated the relationship of parental self-efficacy and home learning activities with child outcomes at the children’s transition from preschool to elementary school. The interplay between parental self-efficacy, home learning activities, and preschool children’s socio-emotional and language skills has not yet been investigated. By linking these variables, this study went beyond previous research that concentrated on relationships between two factors. Findings indicate that the more self-efficacious parents felt, the more home learning activities they offered, and the higher they rated their children’s language skills at age 5. Moreover, parents who felt more efficacious in supporting their children’s language skills also described their children as having fewer socio-emotional problems. Also, parents whose children were about to transition from preschool to elementary school did not significantly undertake more school-preparatory home learning activities than parents of children who were not to enter elementary school. This thesis contributes to better understand the structure of parental self-efficacy in terms of the relationship between different levels of measurement. Furthermore, this thesis was able to show that parents with an immigration background do not generally perceive themselves as less self-efficacious in parenting their children, but that other family characteristics and the context are also decisive for this relationship. Finally, parental self-efficacy emerged as a significant predictor of the number of home learning activities, emphasizing the importance of parental self-efficacy for improving the home learning environment.
