Academic well-being

types of learning motivation—a more autonomous learning motivation (identified regulation) and a more controlled learning motivation (external regulation).

Pupils’ motivation was also measured with the ASRQ-G in this study. Findings revealed that pupils’ perceived parents’ provision of autonomy-support, responsiveness, and structure, as reported at 4th grade, correlated significantly positively with pupils’ identified learning motivation in the following year (5th grade).

However, pupils’ perceived parental autonomy-support and responsiveness, as reported in 4th grade, yielded a non-significant correlation with two types of pupils’ learning motivation over the following 3 years (at 7th grade). Pupils’

perceived parental structure and control, as reported in 4th grade, correlated with external regulation in 5th grade and 7th grade. Parental control yielded a non-significant correlation with identified learning motivation over three measurement times.

sample of undergraduate students and also to other adult participants. Overall, the internal consistencies of the PANAS reported at different periods ranged from .86 to .90 for positive affect and .84 to .87 for negative affect.

Laurent et al. (1999) developed a much more appropriate version of this scale for use with children (PANAS-C). Twenty items were derived from the PANAS for adults. Overall, the PANAS-C consists of 30 items—15 items for positive affect (e.g. interested, alert, excited) and 15 items for negative affect (e.g. sad, frightened, ashamed). The scale was administered to 100 school-age children from 4th to 8th grade in the US. The internal consistencies of the positive and negative affect subscales were .91 and .88, respectively.

The third indicator, life satisfaction, has long been assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) created by Diener et al. (1985). The SWLS contains five items (alpha = .87). It was first tested on American undergraduate students (N = 176). To score on the SWLS, pupils are asked to rate their agreements or disagreements on five statements. Sample items are “In most ways, my life is close to my ideal”, “The conditions of my life are excellent”).

Related Empirical Findings

Numerous studies guided by SDT have empirically confirmed significant linkages between parents’ provision of autonomy-support and responsiveness in the general life domain and subjective well-being indicators (i.e. life satisfaction, positive/negative affect).

Chirkov and Ryan (2001) performed a cross-cultural comparison between Russia and the US. Their sample consisted of 120 high school pupils from Russia and 116 high school pupils from the US. They examined the correlations between autonomy-support from parents and teachers and pupils’ life satisfaction as one amongst other well-being indicators (i.e. self-actualization, self-esteem, low depression). Results indicated that autonomy-support from parents and teachers yielded positive significant correlations with pupils’ life satisfaction and other well-being indicators in both samples. In addition, the analyses validated the structural equation model (SEM) describing the linkages between parents’ and teachers’ provision of autonomy-support and the latent construct of pupils’ well-being. The SEM model showed that autonomy-support from parents was positively associated with most well-being indicators in both samples, with the

exception of depression in the US sample. In addition, it was found that parental provision of autonomy-support related more strongly to well-being indicators than autonomy-support provided by teachers.

Niemiec et al. (2006) conducted two empirical studies of the relationships among pupils’ perceived need support for autonomy and relatedness from parents (mothers vs. fathers), autonomous self-regulation for academics, and psychological health (well-being vs. ill-being).

The aim of the first study was to test the impact of need support from mothers and fathers on pupils’ well-being (i.e. positive affect, life satisfaction) versus ill-being (i.e. negative affect, depressive symptoms).

The sample consisted of 231 American high-school juniors and seniors.

Results showed that need support from both mothers and fathers contributed to higher levels of pupils’ well-being but lower levels of pupils’ ill-being. The relationship between need support from mothers and their pupils’ well-being was significantly stronger than the relationship for fathers.

The aim of the second study was to test the impact of need support from parents (combining both mothers and fathers) on pupils’ well-being (perceived vitality, life satisfaction) versus ill-being (externalizing problems, depressive symptoms) as mediated by autonomous self-regulation for academics (autonomous reasons for going on to college).

The sample consisted of 201 Belgian pupils in their final year of technical high school who intended to pursue further education. The findings revealed that pupils who perceived their parents as providing more need support were more likely to experience greater well-being and less ill-being. Need support from parents was a significant predictor of their children’s autonomous regulation for going on to college. Pupils’

autonomous self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between need support from parents and pupils’ well-being. In other words, need support from parents prompted the development of autonomous self-regulation in their adolescents, which in turn supported pupils’ well-being.

However, the linkage between parental need support and child well-being is still unclear when it comes to the academic domain: in other words, the extent to

which pupils positively evaluate their psychological characteristics that are relevant to school-related issues such as school satisfaction and positive academic emotions as well as absence of negative academic emotions. Further reviews on the operationalization of both well-being indictors and other related findings are presented below:

School Satisfaction

School satisfaction refers to the “subjective, cognitive appraisal of the perceived quality of school life” (Baker et al., 2003, p. 206). The development of the concept of school satisfaction is theoretically grounded in Huebner’s work on children’s life satisfaction (Huebner, 1994). This served as the basis for constructing the Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale for Children (MSLSS) in order to measure children’s life satisfaction in five specific areas—family, friends, school, living environment, and self. The MSLSS was validated in the American context with 312 third- to 8th grade children. The subscale focusing on the children’s life satisfaction in the area of school includes items measuring their cognitive appraisal of school satisfaction (8 items; e.g. “I look forward to going to school”, “I like being in school”; alpha = .78). Pupils have to rate how strongly they agree or disagree with each item.

Even though far less research has studied the role of parental autonomy-support versus control in pupils’ school satisfaction, the few available studies have underlined that family contexts play a significant role in children’s school satisfaction.

For instance, parental support⁴ (e.g. “My parents express pride in me”, “My parents give me good advice”) was found to be strongly associated with school satisfaction in adolescents (De Santis-King, Huebner, Suldo, & Valois, 2006). In this study, parental support was defined similarly to autonomy-support and responsiveness. Furthermore, results showed that the quality of family life, in other words, pupils’ satisfaction with their family life (e.g. “I enjoy being at home with my family”, “My family gets along well together”) also influenced children’s satisfaction with school.

4Parental support was measured with the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS) developed by Malecki and Demaray (2002).

Elmore and Huebner (2010) found that parent attachment⁵ (e.g. “My mother respects my feelings”, “My mom helps me understand myself better”) correlated positively with school satisfaction and that this correlation was consistent over time.

Accordingly, it is reasonable to assume that the higher the degree of parental autonomy-support and responsiveness, the higher the degree of school satisfaction.

Positive Versus Negative Academic Emotion

In learning situations occurring either at home or in school, pupils may experience a variety of emotional states such as being afraid of exams, angry with teachers, or disappointed with test results (Knollmann & Wild, 2007b; Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, &

Perry, 2002). For this reason, there has been an increase in the amount of research on pupils’ experiences of positive and negative emotions in learning contexts.

When it comes to the quality of parental instruction at home, past research has assumed that autonomy-support and responsiveness play an important role in encouraging the child’s emotional well-being; contrariwise, high degrees of structure and controlling behaviour appear to be linked to negative academic emotions (Glaeser-Zirkuda, & Fuss, 2004; Patrick, Skinner, & Connell, 1993).

To gain a deeper insight into these linkages, the following presents some interesting related findings from a series of studies conducted by Knollmann and Wild .

Knollmann and Wild (2007a) conducted an empirical study exploring whether pupils’ motivational orientations (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) moderate the linkages between the quality of parental instruction (autonomy-supportive versus directive and highly structured) and academic emotions (negative vs. positive), when controlling for self-concept. German 6th graders participated in two studies (N1 = 181, N2 = 38). In the first study, pupils reported the emotions they would experience from reading two vignettes concerning two opposite types of parental instruction in mathematics homework. After each of 21 homework sessions, pupils reported their motivation orientations, perceived quality of parental support, and emotions. Results showed that extrinsically motivated pupils

5Parent attachment was measured with the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) developed by Armsden and Greenberg (1987).

reported significantly more anxiety under autonomy-supportive conditions than intrinsically motivated pupils did. In contrast, intrinsically and extrinsically motivated pupils tended to report more boredom when parents appeared to be directive.

Knollmann and Wild (2007b) examined the intercorrelations among three dimensions of parental instruction at home (i.e. autonomy-support, emotional support, and support for competence) and four types of academic emotions (i.e.

anger, disappointment, anxiety, and joy). This study did not take into account the moderating effects of motivational orientations. Participants were 181 German pupils. Results indicated that the more parents were autonomy- and emotionally supportive, the more pupils reported intensity of joy. Furthermore, pupils reported a high degree of intensity of anger when they perceived their parents as less autonomy- and competence supportive.

Up to this point, it may be inferred that parents’ provisions of autonomy-support and responsiveness not only impact directly on pupils’ positive academic emotion, but that these relations are also moderated by pupils’ motivation for learning.

2.5.3. Academic Self-Regulation Competencies: Investigating Unemphasized