ABSTRACT
Background: The role of conscious self-regulation in determining students' psychological well-being and academic performance is considered in the context of the fundamental problem of the regularities of young adolescents' development. Objective: To reveal the role of meta-resources of conscious self-regulation in determining young adolescents' psychological well-being and academic performance. Design: Sample: 500 students in 4th- to 6th grade (10-12) in general schools, 149 of whom participated in a three-year longitudinal study. The Self-Regulation Profile of Learning Activity and the Well-Being Manifestation scales were used. Results: Conscious self-regulation and academic performance increase significantly in fifth grade and decrease in sixth grade. On the contrary, psychological well-being is characterized by a systemic positive dynamic. A typological analysis identified the levels of psychological well-being of students growing, stable, and declining during the transition period. It was found that the general level of conscious self-regulation made a significant positive contribution and is a universal resource for students' psychological well-being and academic performance. Special regulatory resources for academic performance are described, depending on the trajectory of changes in psychological well-being. Increased well-being is determined by the regulatory competencies of Planning and Evaluation of results and its stability by Planning, Modelling, Flexibility, and Responsibility. The general level of self-regulation, regulatory competencies, Planning, Programming and Responsibility mediate in the relationship between student psychological well-being and academic performance. A longitudinal study found that self-regulation has a long-term positive effect on student psychological well-being and academic performance. Conclusion: Conscious self-regulation is a meta-resource that makes a significant contribution to both the psychological well-being and academic performance. Mediator and prognostic effects of self-regulation on these properties create a psychological basis for practical work.
ABSTRACT
Background: The theoretical basis of this study was the resource approach (Morosanova 2014, 2017), in which the conscious self-regulation of learning activity is understood as a meta-resource for students, allowing them to consciously and independently set learning goals and manage their achievement. This approach made it possible to create models of direct and mediate contributions of self-regulation and school engagement not only to academic performance, but also to other motivational and personal competencies. Objective: Our study aimed to investigate the impact of conscious self-regulation, school engagement, motivation, and personality on academic achievement, while taking into account the effects of mediation. Design: A quantitative research design was applied, using data collected from more than 1524 students from the 5th to 11th grades in Russian schools and applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: The results allowed us to construct a statistical model of predictors of students' academic achievement. The model was verified on the total sample, as well as samples differing in gender and age. The results show that conscious self-regulation is central to non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement. For the first time, a study has revealed and described the reciprocal relationship between self-regulation, academic motivation, school engagement, and academic performance. The resulting model demonstrates that behavioral and cognitive engagement make a significant contribution to academic performance, while emotional and social engagement do not find significant links with it, although they determine other areas of school life. Conclusion: Our paper investigates the nature and strength of the effects of major non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement. The study results substantiated the resource role of conscious self-regulation not only for students' academic performance, but also for their academic motivation, school engagement, and attitude toward learning. The predictor model of academic achievement we developed will provide a foundation for combining existing heterogeneous concepts into a single integrated model and clarify the contradictions between them.
ABSTRACT
Background: Recently, research on psychological well-being and its dynamics and predictors in adolescence, has gained special attention, due to the importance of well-being for mental and physical health, as well as for success in different activities. Self-regulation (SR) is considered a significant resource for maintaining psychological and school-related subjective well-being. Objective: The purpose of our study was to identify the role of conscious SR in maintaining pupils' satisfaction with school life, and to assess the contribution of conscious SR to the development of psychological well-being in adolescence. Design: Two three-year longitudinal studies were carried out on samples of young adolescents in Russian schools (N = 148; N = 132; 10-13 years). The studies utilized methods for assessing conscious SR, psychological well-being (PWB), and school-related subjective well-being (SWB), the latter being the cognitive component of life satisfaction. Results: Our research revealed differences in the dynamics of PWB and SWB levels in adolescents during their transition from primary to basic secondary school. It also identified the specifics of longitudinal relationships between conscious SR, PWB, and SWB in adolescence. We showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between them. However, the most significant cross-longitudinal effects were established between SR and school-related SWB. These effects changed over time: at the beginning, well-being acted as a significant factor of self-regulation, while later self-regulation acted as a significant resource for maintaining adolescent well-being in the subsequent years. Conclusion: School-related SWB is characterized by the most pronounced trajectory of change, while PWB is characterized by greater stability and insignificant growth. Our three-year longitudinal study demonstrated that the link between self-regulation and well-being is consistently reproduced. Conscious self-regulation is a significant resource for both the psychological and school subjective well-being of adolescents.
