Parental Mathematical Expectations-Involvement Profiles and Young Children’s Number Sense: A Latent Profile Analysis

Previous research has primarily examined parental mathematical expectations and involvement separately, with limited attention to how these two factors jointly characterize different families and relate to young children’s number sense. To address this gap, the present study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify parental mathematical expectation–involvement profiles and examine their associations with children’s number sense. The sample comprised 731 Chinese parent–child dyads with children aged 3–5 years. The results supported a four-profile solution for parental mathematical expectations and involvement in the present sample: “Low Expectation-Low Involvement” (19.6%), “Moderate Expectation-Low Involvement” (38.7%), “Moderate Expectation-Moderate Involvement” (29.4%), and “High Expectation-High Involvement” (12.3%). SES was associated with high-involvement membership; child age and gender were associated with the low-expectation class. Children in the Moderate Expectation–Moderate Involvement and High Expectation–High Involvement profiles scored higher on number sense than those in the two lower-involvement profiles. However, the difference between the two higher-involvement profiles was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that parental expectation–involvement profiles are associated with young children’s number sense.