Abstract We tested a model considering the manner in which mothers' use of their own social relationships and efforts to facilitate their children's school-based social relationships were associated with two distinct types of school-based competence: academic achievement and levels of stress experienced within the school environment. Fourth grade children (n = 311) and their mothers participated in interviews and completed questionnaires providing information on social relationships and school experiences. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated a good fit for a model in which mothers' efforts to facilitate children's social relationships with peers were associated with lower levels of school-based stress, but mothers' efforts to maintain social connections with the parents of their children's school friends were linked with lower levels of objectively measured academic achievement
