Support from Parents, Peers, and Teachers is differently associated with Middle School Students’ Well-Being

Parents, peers, and teachers provide a powerful context for school students’ well-being. However, a detailed and systematic analysis of how parental, teacher, and peer support relate to students’ well-being, measured by the dimensions self-worth, psychological and physical well-being, is still missing. To address this research gap, the following study investigates 733 adolescent German students from grades 7 and 8 (Mage = 13.97, SD = 0.41, 52% girls) with respect to their perceived supportive relationships at home and within the school context. The study considers gender, socioeconomic status, and school form as potential confounders. The results of the structural equation model, analyzed with the statistical software R, indicate that perceived teacher support was positively related to students’ self-worth and physical well-being, while peer support was related to psychological well-being. Students who perceived their parents as supportive reported higher well-being with respect to all three dimensions investigated

Academic self-concept and achievement motivation among adolescent students in different learning environments: Does competence-support matter?

The present study tests the following: a) whether perceived competence support functions as a mediator in the associations between academic self-concept and achievement motivation and b) how various learning environments shape these associations. A teacher- directed learning environment (TDL) and a student-centered approach, namely competence- based learning (CBL), were contrasted using latent mean comparison and multi-group structural equation modeling with indirect effects. This study is based on a sample of German students in early and middle adolescence (N = 1,153; MAgeT1 = 13.97, SD = 1.37; MAgeT2 = 14.27, SD = 1.25) in two waves (T1 = Autumn 2015 and T2 = Spring 2016). The results of the latent mean comparison indicate that students from schools with CBL perceive a higher level of academic self-concept compared to students from TDL environments. Moreover, multigroup structural equation modeling demonstrates that perceived competence support functions as a mediator in the association between academic self-concept and achievement motivation primarily for students from schools with CBL. Findings suggest that mostly students with a low level of academic self-concept benefit from CBL because this student- centered learning environment reduces the association between academic self-concept and achievement motivation through a high level of perceived competence support

Learning Environments in Contrast: How Adolescent Students Differ in their Self, Emotions, Motivation, and Learning Behavior in Teacher-Directed Learning and Student-Centered Learning Classes

The present thesis examines an individualized and student-centered learning environment based on competency matrices and contrasts it with a conventional teacher-directed learning environment. The first part of this dissertation outlines the development of the student-centered learning environment and the theoretical background of motivational development. Subsequently, three studies contrast both types of learning environments with regards to motivational variables and their interplay in order to evaluate both learning environments and to examine predictors of motivation and learning behavior. The three studies are based on a dataset of 1,153 adolescent students aged 12–18 (M = 13.97, SD = 1.37, 49% girls). Study 1 investigates whether perceived autonomy mediates the association between self-efficacy and approaches to learning across both learning environments differently. Latent mean comparisons and multigroup multilevel structural equation modeling were conducted to examine the hypotheses. The results revealed that autonomy functions as a mediator in the association between self-efficacy and approaches to learning only for students from schools with a student-centered learning environment based on competency matrices. Study 2 investigates whether competence support mediates the association between academic self-concept and achievement motivation differently for students from both learning environments. Latent mean comparisons and multigroup structural equation modeling were conducted to examine the hypotheses. The multigroup structural equation models demonstrated that perceived competence support functions as a mediator in the association between academic self-concept and achievement motivation primarily for early adolescent students from schools with the student-centered learning environment. Study 3 examines the reciprocal interplay of achievement emotions and self-determined motivation. Latent mean comparisons and autoregressive cross-lagged panel analyses were conducted to examine the hypotheses. Reciprocal association could not be supported. However, enjoyment benefited self-determined motivation only for students from the student-centered learning environment. The dissertation concludes with a summary of the results, practical implications for educational practice, and limitations of the present thesis.Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht eine individualisierte und schülerzentrierte Lernumgebung auf der Basis von Kompetenzrastern und vergleicht diese mit einem konventionellen lehrergeführten Unterricht. Der erste Teil der vorliegenden Dissertation beschreibt die Entwicklung der Lernumgebung und skizziert die theoretischen Hintergründe der motivationalen Entwicklung von Schüler*innen. Anschließend vergleichen drei Studien beide Lernumgebungen hinsichtlich der motivationalen Variablen und des Zusammenspiels dieser, um einerseits beide Lernumgebung zu evaluieren und andererseits Prädiktoren von Motivation und Lernverhalten zu untersuchen. Alle drei Studien basieren auf einer Stichprobe von 1,153 Schülerinnen und Schülern im Alter von 12 bis 18 Jahren (M = 13.97, SD = 1.37, 49% Mädchen). Studie 1 untersucht, ob wahrgenommene Autonomie die Beziehung von Selbstwirksamkeit einerseits und der Lernstrategienutzung anderseits mediiert. Latente Mittelwertsvergleiche und Mehrgruppen-Mehrebenen-Strukturgleichungsmodelle wurden durchgeführt um die Hypothesen zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass wahrgenommene Autonomieunterstützung die Beziehung zwischen Selbstwirksamkeit und Lernstrategien mediiert, allerdings ausschließlich für Schülerinnen und Schüler in der schülerzentrierten Lernumgebung auf der Basis von Kompetenzrastern. Studie 2 untersucht, ob Kompetenzunterstützung die Beziehung vom akademischen Selbstkonzept und der Leistungsmotivation unterschiedlich für Schülerinnen und Schüler aus einer lehrergeführten und einer schülerzentrierten Lernumgebung auf der Basis von Kompetenzrastern mediiert. Latente Mittelwertsvergleiche und Mehrgruppen-Strukturgleichungsmodelle wurden konzipiert, um die Hypothesen zu untersuchen. Die Mehrgruppen-Strukturgleichungsmodelle zeigen, dass Kompetenzunterstützung ausschließlich in der schülerzentrierten Lernumgebung auf der Basis von Kompetenzrastern die Beziehung vom akademischen Selbstkonzept und der Leistungsmotivation mediiert, vor allem für Schülerinnen und Schüler in der frühen Adoleszenz. Studie 3 untersucht den reziproken Zusammenhang zwischen Leistungsemotionenn und selbstbestimmter Motivation. Latente Mittelwertsvergleiche und autoregressive cross-lagged Panel Analysen wurden durchgeführt, um die Hypothesen zu untersuchen. Reziproke Beziehungenn wurden nicht nachgewiesen. Allerdings konnte aufgezeigt werden, dass ausschließlich in der schülerzentrierten Lernumgebung auf der Basis von Kompetenzrastern positive Leistungsemotionen (i.e., Lernfreude) selbstbestimmte Formen der Motivation vorhersagen. Die vorliegende Arbeit wird abgeschlossen durch eine Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse, praktische Implikationen für die Schulpraxis, sowie durch ein Limitationskapitel

How autonomy support mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and approaches to learning

The significant interplay between self-efficacy, perceived autonomy support and approaches to learning in adolescent students is widely recognized. However, less is known about whether substantial differences exist between students from schools with different environments (student-centered vs. teacher-centered learning). To close this research gap, this study used latent mean comparison and multigroup multilevel mediation modelling with questionnaire data from a sample of German adolescent students (N = 1153; MAgeT1 = 13.97, SD = 1.37; MAgeT2 = 14.27, SD = 1.25) in two waves. Multigroup multilevel mediation modelling reveals that perceived autonomy support functions as a mediator in the association between self-efficacy and approaches to learning only for students from schools with a student-centered learning environment based on competency matrices in contrast to a teacher- directed learning environment. More specifically, adolescents’ approaches to learning can be enhanced through autonomy-supportive learning independently of their self-efficacy

What different network models reveal about the relation of engagement to burnout

Schoolwork Engagement and school burnout are both multi-facetted constructs consisting of multiple components, including emotional, affective and behavioral facets for engagement and exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy for burnout. Although the desirable engagement and the undesirable burnout symptoms are negatively correlated, there are some individuals who report high levels of both engagement and burnout. Within-person analyses are needed to detect such engaged but burned out individuals, who are otherwise overlooked if common between-person correlations are examined. This study extends prior comparison of insights to be gained from between- versus within-person analyses. Based on the critique that multi-facetted constructs may be better represented in psychometric networks than latent factor measurement models (see Lange et al., 2020), we examined the relationships among and between the specific engagement and burnout facets with psychometric and residual network models and compared their insights to the common latent factor (CFA) approach. To account for the problem that within-person co-endorsements of engagement and burnout experiences may be overlooked with between-person correlations, we then compared the inter-individual correlation-based psychometric and residual networks to an intra-individual co-endorsement network. The present study shows how motivational research may benefit from utilizing and contrasting psychometric network models as they may help to examining specific facets of constructs and that the inferences and conclusions that are drawn might change in contrast to the use of conventional latent factor approaches

Mixed Motivational Regulation: Latent Profile Analyses of Self-Determined Motivation and Their Consequences for Behavioral Outcomes

Online repository containing data, analyses, results, and pre-print

On the influence of social problem behavior and prosocial behavior on the psychological stress experience of adolescents with below-average language comprehension at the start of school

Impairments in language development are among the most common developmental disorders in childhood. Since language skills are of great importance for many different areas of life, especially for learning and psychosocial development (Rißling et al., 2016), findings on the association between language problems and the experience of psychological stress are necessary. This study therefore aims to investigate the extent to which children with language comprehension problems at the start of school differ from children without language problems in terms of their psychological stress at the end of their school years. In addition, the effects of behavioral problems at the start of school on the mental health of students with language problems will be examined. Data of N = 488 students are used to answer and evaluate these questions at three different measurement points (T0: beginning of grade 1, T1: end of grade 1 and T2: end of grade 9). It was possible to identify a subsample of n = 51 children who exhibited deficiencies in language comprehension at the first wave. The results show that children with problems in language development reported more depressive symptoms, manifest anxiety and test anxiety at the end of their school career. In addition, various externalizing behavioral problems (including hyperactivity and problems with peers) were also found to be predictive of the psychological stress experienced by these children