Many studies have shown that family structure affects students’ academic performance, but the mediating mechanisms behind this influence have not been thoroughly explored. The aim of this study is to explore the connections between parent–child relationships, social self-efficacy and academic performance within the context of secondary education. A data sample of 12,190 secondary school students was collected using a multi-stage sampling method for the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) in China. The analysis results show that: (1) the parent–child relationship is significantly and positively correlated with students’ achievement; (2) the effect of the parent–child relationship on academic achievement is consistent across genders; (3) social self-efficacy partially mediates the connection between parent–child relationships and academic performance. The results indicate that a higher quality of the parent–child relationship is associated with a stronger sense of social self-efficacy in students, which subsequently influences their academic performance. This study highlights the key role and significance of social self-efficacy in the impact of parent–child relationships on students’ performance.
Fu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.