Dimensionalities of home science environment and family science capital and their relationship to science achievement: Evidence from a large-scale study in Chinese adolescents.

In this preregistered analysis of a large-scale data set, we examined the dimensionalities of home science environment and family science capital and their relationship to science achievement in a sample of 45,720 Chinese Grade 8 students (ages 13-14, 45.1% female). A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that home science environment has a three-dimensional structure, consisting of formal and informal science activities, as well as access to science resources. Access to science resources was weakly but consistently associated with students' science achievement after controlling for parents' education, expectations, and family science capital (family scientific interest, willingness to support, and scientific network). By contrast, informal science activities were negatively associated with science achievement. Access to science resources also mediated the indirect associations between family science interest, parents' education, expectations, and adolescents' science achievement. These findings suggest that access to science resources may play a small but consistent role in students' science achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).