Studying the Relationship of Social-Emotional Competence and Academic Engagement with Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Academic Adjustment in Second High School Girl's Students

Ghodrati , Zahra; Sarayei , Ali Asghar; BakhshiPour , Abolfazl

Volume 14 - Articles-1403 MEJDS (2024) 14: 45 | Back to browse issues page

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Ghodrati Z, Sarayei A A, BakhshiPour A. Studying the Relationship of Social-Emotional Competence and Academic Engagement with Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Academic Adjustment in Second High School Girl's Students. MEJDS 2024; 14 :45-45
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-3383-en.html

Studying the Relationship of Social-Emotional Competence and Academic Engagement with Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Academic Adjustment in Second High School Girl's Students

Zahra Ghodrati¹

, Ali Asghar Sarayei ^*²

, Abolfazl BakhshiPour²

1- PhD student, Department of Psychology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran

Abstract: (712 Views)

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Academic achievement predicts the child's future in today's competitive world. In this regard, one of the important joint research programs in psychological sciences and education is to investigate the factors that predict and influence students' academic progress. For a long time, studies were limited to the effect of intelligence on school grades. Some researchers argue that intelligence is the only psychological construct related to academic achievement. This opinion limits the contribution of other cognitive, environmental, and social–emotional variables in education. However, more recent research confirmed that beyond intelligence, the role of social, emotional, and cognitive factors has been increasingly highlighted as factors related to academic achievement. In this regard, using a structural model, the present study investigated the relationships between social–emotional competence, academic engagement, and academic adjustment with academic achievement in high school girls senior students.
Methods: This research was descriptive–correlational and based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all female senior students of high schools in Bojnord City, Iran, in the second half of the academic year 2022–2023. Of these, 383 were selected as the research sample using a multi–stage cluster method. The data collection of the research was done by self–report method and using the Academic Engagement Scale (Reeve, 2013), the Social Emotional Competence Questionnaire (Zhou & Ee, 2012), and the Adjustment Inventory for High School Students (Singh & Sinha, 1993). To measure the student's academic achievement, the grade point average in the end–of–semester exams was calculated and considered an indicator of their academic achievement. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling method in SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 23 software. The significance level of the tests was 0.05.
Results: Results showed that academic engagement (p<0.001, β=0.19) and academic adjustment (p<0.001, β=0.21) had significant and direct effects on academic achievement. Another research finding showed that the direct impact of social–emotional competence on academic achievement was not significant (p=0.086, β=0.09). Indirect coefficients indicated the indirect effect of social–emotional competencies (p<0.001, β=0.21) and academic engagement (p=0.002, β=0.17) on academic achievement, with the mediating role of academic adjustment was positive and significant. The fit indices obtained from the general model had a good fit with the collected data (χ²/df=1.82; TLI= 0.95, CFI=0.97; GFI=0.96; IFI=0.95, AGFI=0.93, NFI=0.95, RMSEA=0.04).
Conclusion: The results showed that academic adjustment mediates the relationship between social–emotional competence and academic engagement with academic achievement. These results can contribute to developing educational interventions to improve students' academic progress.

Keywords: Academic achievement, Academic engagement, Academic adjustment, Social–emotional competence

Full-Text [PDF 405 kb] (426 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Psychology

References

1. Kunnari J, Pursiainen J, Muukkonen H. The relationship between secondary education outcomes and academic achievement: a study of Finnish educational sciences students. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 2023;47(9):1155–68. [DOI]

2. Zhang W, Zhang L, Chen L, Ji L, Deater‐Deckard K. Developmental changes in longitudinal associations between academic achievement and psychopathological symptoms from late childhood to middle adolescence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2019;60(2):178–88. [DOI]

3. Boffo V, Melacarne C. Employability in adult and higher education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 2019;2019(163):163–9. [DOI]

4. Ornaghi V, Conte E, Cavioni V, Farina E, Pepe A. The role of teachers' socio-emotional competence in reducing burnout through increased work engagement. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1295365. [DOI]

5. Mella N, Pansu P, Batruch A, Bressan M, Bressoux P, Brown G, et al. Socio-emotional competencies and school performance in adolescence: what role for school adjustment? Front Psychol. 2021;12:640661. [DOI]

6. MacCann C, Jiang Y, Brown LER, Double KS, Bucich M, Minbashian A. Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2020;146(2):150–86. [DOI]

7. Ayllón-Salas P, Fernández-Martín FD. The role of social and emotional skills on adolescents' life satisfaction and academic performance. Psychology, Society & Education. 2024;16(1):49–56. [DOI]

8. Yu X, Wang X, Zheng H, Zhen X, Shao M, Wang H, et al. Academic achievement is more closely associated with student-peer relationships than with student-parent relationships or student-teacher relationships. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1012701. [DOI]

9. Fredricks JA, Blumenfeld PC, Paris AH. School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Rev Educ Res. 2004;74(1):59–109. [DOI]

10. Tannoubi A, Quansah F, Magouri I, Chalghaf N, Bonsaksen T, Srem-Sai M, et al. Modelling the associations between academic engagement, study process and grit on academic achievement of physical education and sport university students. BMC Psychol. 2023;11(1):418. [DOI]

11. Meng Q, Zhang Q. The influence of academic self-efficacy on university students' academic performance: the mediating effect of academic engagement. Sustainability. 2023;15(7):5767. [DOI]

12. Najafi H. The relationship between modern education (electronic and blended), academic engagement and academic well-being with academic performance. Positive Psychology Research. 2023;9(1):87–106. [Persian] [Article]

13. Lee JS. The relationship between student engagement and academic performance: is it a myth or reality? J Educ Res. 2014;107(3):177–85. [DOI]

14. Abid N, Akhtar M. Relationship between academic engagement and academic achievement: an empirical evidence of secondary school students. J Educ Res. 2020;23(1):2020.

15. Shernoff DJ, Schmidt JA. Further evidence of an engagement–achievement paradox among U.S. high school students. J Youth Adolesc. 2008;37(5):564–80. [DOI]

16. Baker RW, Siryk B. Student adaptation to college questionnaire manual. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services; 1989.

17. Van Rooij ECM, Jansen EPWA, Van De Grift WJCM. Secondary school students' engagement profiles and their relationship with academic adjustment and achievement in university. Learn Individ Differ. 2017;54:9–19. [DOI]

18. Van Rooij ECM, Jansen EPWA, Van De Grift WJCM. First-year university students' academic success: the importance of academic adjustment. Eur J Psychol Educ. 2018;33(4):749–67. [DOI]

19. Jafari Z, Abdizarin S. Prediction of academic adjustment based on academic identity, academic buoyancy and school engagement among students. Journal of Educational Psychology Studies. 2022;18(44):103–22. [Persian] [Article]

20. Skinner EA, Pitzer JR, Steele JS. Can student engagement serve as a motivational resource for academic coping, persistence, and learning during late elementary and early middle school? Dev Psychol. 2016;52(12):2099–117. [DOI]

21. Ullah R. Boys versus girls' educational performance: empirical evidences from global north and global south. African Educational Research Journal. 2019;7(4):163–7. [DOI]

22. Kline RB. The mediation myth. Basic Appl Soc Psych 2015;37(4):202–13. [DOI]

23. Reeve J. How students create motivationally supportive learning environments for themselves: The concept of agentic engagement. J Educ Psychol. 2013;105(3):579–95. [DOI]

24. Ramazani M, Khamesan A. Psychometric characteristics of Reeve's Academic Engagement Questionnaire 2013: with the introduction of the agentic engagement. Quarterly of Educational Measurement. 2017;8(29):185–204. [Persian] [Article]

25. Zhou M, Ee J. Development and validation of the Social Emotional Competence Questionnaire. The International Journal of Emotional Education. 2012;4(2):27–42.

26. Imamgholivand F, Kadivar P, Pasha Sharifi H. Psychometric indexes students' of the Social Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ). Quarterly of Educational Measurement. 2018;9(33):79–101. [Persian] [Article]

27. Sinha AKP, Singh RP. The Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS). Agra. National Psychological Corporation; 1993

28. Aghazhor Hasiri F. Psychometric characteristics of Compatibility Questionnaire and its relationship with emotional intelligence of female teachers in Babol city [Thesis for MSc]. [Tehran, Iran]: Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch; 2014. [Persian]

29. Schumacker RE, Lomax RG. A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. New York, Routledge; 2012.