English-learning stress and performance in Chinese college students: A serial mediation model of academic anxiety and academic burnout and the protective effect of grit

English language learning anxiety and academic burnout in Chinese freshmen: a chain mediating approach

Background

The university stage is critical for cultivating and enhancing students' practical English proficiency, encompassing listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation skills. Losing interest in English studies at this stage not only hampers the development of practical English competence but also has a negative impact on future employment and personal growth.

Aims

This study aimed to explore to how English language learning anxiety (ELLA) affects academic burnout (AB) of freshman in China and explores the role of academic peer support (APS) and academic self-efficacy (ASE) in the relationship between the two.

Methods

The study involved 1,355 college students who completed English Language Learning Anxiety Scale, the English Academic burnout Scale, Academic Peer Relationship Scale, the Academic Self-efficacy Scale.

Results

AB was significantly impacted by ELLA. ELLA and AB were mediated by ASE. Another factor that acted as a mediator between ELLA and AB was APS. ELLA and AB were mediated by a chain reaction involving ASE and APS.

Conclusion

The chain mediation model validated in this study, providing valuable insights into the effects of freshmen's ELLA on AB in China, as well as practical insights into the prevention and intervention of ELLA and AB in other current college students.

How does family functioning contribute to academic-related outcomes of Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of spirituality

While family functioning is crucial to adolescent developmental outcomes, the mediating role of spirituality in the relationship between family functioning and academic-related outcomes of adolescents has been sparsely explored, particularly in non-Western contexts. To address this gap, based on a short-term longitudinal study, we examined the influence of family functioning on the academic values and academic anxiety of 4,981 Chinese adolescents in Sichuan, China, with spirituality as the mediator. We gathered data from students aged 11 and above at Wave 1 and at six months later (Wave 2). Analysis utilizing structural equation modeling indicated that prior family functioning positively and negatively predicted subsequent academic values and academic anxiety respectively, with spirituality as a significant mediator. Theoretically, this study helps to build up a conceptual model on how family functioning and spirituality of adolescents shape academic values and academic anxiety of adolescents. Practically, the present findings highlight the significance of enhancing family functioning and adolescent spirituality to help adolescents strive for academic success.

Investigating learning burnout and academic performance among management students: a longitudinal study in English courses

This study aims to move away from the cross-sectional approach related to burnout and conduct a longitudinal study to explore the factors influencing learning burnout among management students. The study primarily adopts a questionnaire survey, with students majoring in business management. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) are used to analyze the data and validate the hypotheses. The findings are: (1) There is a significant negative relationship between English anxiety and self-efficacy and a significant positive relationship between past English learning performance and self-efficacy. (2) The changes in self-efficacy are negatively related to the changes in burnout, while the changes in workload are positively related to the changes in burnout. Additionally, there is a positive relationship between English anxiety and learning burnout. (3) There is a significant negative relationship between English learning performance and burnout. The direct impact of self-efficacy on English learning performance is not supported, but it has an indirect effect through the mediating role of burnout. The study proposes strategies to improve student outcomes and well-being: (1) making English courses more engaging to boost performance and confidence, reducing learning burnout; (2) encouraging and supporting students to enhance self-efficacy and motivation; (3) assigning tasks seen as useful and interesting to lessen perceived workload and emotional exhaustion; (4) and considering English anxiety in admissions to decrease learning burnout, especially as schools gain more autonomy in their policies.

Anxiety among Asian international college students in the US: a systematic literature review

OBJECTIVE

The current systematic literature review explores the factors contributing to anxiety among Asian international college students in the United States.

METHODS

A search of multiple electronic databases yielded seven relevant peer-reviewed articles published since 2018.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that academic stressors, lack of social support, and cultural barriers significantly contributed to anxiety among Asian international students. Additionally, demographic factors such as gender, age, and English proficiency may also influence anxiety levels.

DISCUSSION

Mindfulness-based interventions, peer support groups, and culturally sensitive counseling may reduce anxiety among Asian international students. Further research is needed to understand more thoroughly the complex interactions between these factors and anxiety in this population.

Internet Addiction and Academic Anxiety Among Chinese College Students During COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Psychological Contract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to investigate the underlying mechanism connecting internet addiction and academic anxiety, with the aim of assisting higher education professionals and administrators in developing comprehensive solutions to effectively mitigate the systemic risks associated with these issues.

Patients and Methods

This study utilizes the smart data collection instrument of Wenjuanxing to gather data from 270 Chinese college students through an online questionnaire survey. Through building and analyzing a structural equation model that consists of four latent variables, such as internet addiction, relational psychological contract, transactional psychological contract, and academic anxiety. The study analyzed the fundamental characteristics of the transformation mechanism of Internet addiction and academic anxiety. It specifically focused on conducting a mediating effects test of the psychological contract variable to validate the significant role of both relational psychological contract and transactional psychological contract in this transformation mechanism.

Results

First, the study found that internet addiction (β=0.094; p=0.179) cannot directly impact academic anxiety. It can only influence academic anxiety through the mediating effects of the relational psychological contract (β=0.088; p=0.022) and the transactional psychological contract (β=0.123; p=0.003), with the latter having a more significant impact. Second, the destructive effect of Internet addiction on relational psychological contracts (β=-0.496; p<0.001) is greater than that on transactional psychological contracts (β=-0.476; p<0.001). Third, compared to the weakening of the relational psychological contract (β=-0.177; p=0.017), the weakening of the transactional psychological contract (β=-0.258; p=0.001) has a more significant impact on college students' academic anxiety.

Conclusion

This study shows that the weakening of the corresponding psychological contract is the key link for the development of Internet addiction into academic anxiety. Stabilizing the psychological contracts at the psychological level of college students can help suppress the vicious transformation process from internet addiction to academic anxiety, ensuring students' mental health and reducing systemic risks in educational work.

Impact of Learning Burnout on Mobile Phone Dependence Among Adolescents in Western China Under the "Double Reduction" Policy: The Mediating Role of Social Support

Purpose

This paper investigated the prevalence of mobile phone dependence (MPD) and its associated with learning burnout under the "double reduction" policy among adolescents in Guizhou Province in western China. In addition, the influence of the mediating mechanism of social support on this relationship was investigated.

Methods

The sample was collected from 16,216 adolescents in West China's Guizhou province, from December 2021 to January 2022 via multistage stratified random sampling. The Self-rating Questionnaire for Adolescent Problematic Mobile Phone Use (SQAPMPU) was used to assess the MPD, the Adolescent Student Burnout Scale (ASBI) was used to assess the learning burnout, and the Social Support Scale (SSS) was used to assess the social support. A hierarchical linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between MPD, learning burnout, and social support. The mediating effect of social support between MPD and learning burnout was analyzed by structural equation model.

Results

Prevalence of MPD was 26.4% among adolescents in Guizhou province in western China. After adjusting for confounding variables like demographics, multiple linear regression model has revealed that learning burnout positively predicted MPD and social support negatively predicted MPD. The structural equation model showed that 10.9% of the effect was explained by the mediating effect of social support.

Conclusion

These findings could inform service delivery and policy formulation to reduce learning and avoid MPD in adolescents.

Social support in class and learning burnout among Chinese EFL learners in higher education: Are academic buoyancy and class level important?

The prevalence and adverse effects of learning burnout are a major concern in higher education. Based upon JD-R and COR theories, this study modeled the associations among social support that teachers and peers provide in class, academic buoyancy, learning burnout, and class level with respect to the degree of English proficiency. A sample of 1955 Chinese EFL learners in higher education participated in the cross-sectional survey. Structural equation modelling via partial least squares technique was utilized for statistical analysis. The results corroborated the protecting role that social support in class played against EFL students' learning burnout. In particular, the findings revealed that academic buoyancy both mediated and moderated the nexus between social support on EFL learners' burnout. Moreover, this study found that class level with respect to English proficiency moderated the relation between academic buoyancy and learning burnout and that the negative impact of academic buoyancy on burnout increased in classes in which students had lower English proficiency. Based upon the findings, certain targeted suggestions for educational practice were provided.

Association of health-risk behaviors with perceived academic performance among middle and high school students: A cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China

Adolescence is a susceptible period to establish health-risk behaviors, which may have an impact on academic performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between health-risk behaviors (HRBs) and perceived academic performance (PAP) of adolescents in Shanghai, China. The data of the present study included three-round Shanghai Youth Health-risk Behavior Survey (SYHBS). This cross-sectional survey investigated multiple HRBs of students involved in dietary behaviors, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, intentional and unintentional injury behaviors, and substance abuse behaviors, as well as PAP by using self-reported questionnaire. Using a multistage random sampling method, 40,593 middle and high school students aged 12 to 18 years were involved. Only participants with complete data on HRBs information, academic performance and covariates were included. A total of 35,740 participants were involved in analysis. We used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the association between each HRB and PAP adjusting for sociodemographic, family environment and duration of extracurricular study. The results showed that students who did not eat breakfast or drink milk everyday were more likely to have a lower PAP, with a decreased odds of 0.89 (95%CI: 0.86-0.93, P<0.001) and 0.82 (95%CI: 0.79-0.85, P<0.001), respectively. The similar association was also found in students who did exercise ≥60 minutes for less than 5 days/week, spend time on watch TV beyond 3 hours/day and other sedentary behaviors. Most intentional and unintentional injuries, and ever smoked were associated with a lower PAP. Our finding suggests that multiple HRBs negatively associated with PAP of adolescents. It needs to raise public health concerns with HRBs in adolescents, and to develop and implement comprehensive interventions on HRBs.