Perceptions of family environments, educational and occupational outcomes: social-status differences.

Regression surface analysis was used to examine relations between various family environment measures and young adults' educational and occupational outcomes. Data were collected from 330 Australians as part of a 10-year longitudinal study. The regression models included terms to account for possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear relationships. In general, the analysis suggests the proposition that parents' aspirations and adolescents' perceptions of parents' support for learning have differential linear and curvilinear associations with the educational and occupational outcomes of young adults from different social-status groups.