Metacognitive beliefs and academic performance in Chinese middle school students
A moderated mediation model of emotional dysregulation and anxiety
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21297102 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zeyiting Gao (0009-0000-1529-9656, Division of Applied Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen China), Yuran Chen (0009-0004-8568-310X, Division of Applied Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen China), Chun Chen (0000-0002-3608-6972, Division of Applied Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen China, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-06 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Educational Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0998 • E-ISSN: 2044-8279 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/bjep.70072 |
| PMID | 41793083 |
| OpenAlex | W7134140162 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 116 |
BACKGROUND: Academic performance during adolescence is shaped by the interplay of cognitive and emotional processes. According to the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model, maladaptive metacognitive beliefs (MB) contribute to anxiety, while deficits in emotion regulation may exacerbate this process. However, little is known about how specific MB dimensions interact with ED to influence anxiety and academic performance among Chinese adolescents. AIMS: This study investigated whether ED moderated the relationship between MB dimensions and anxiety and whether the indirect effect of MB on academic performance via anxiety was moderated by emotional dysregulation (ED) in Chinese adolescents. SAMPLE: A total of 353 middle school students (ages 12-15; 174 females) from Zhejiang Province, China, participated in the study. METHODS: Participants completed questionnaires on MB (MCQ-30), ED (DERS-16), and anxiety (DASS-21 Anxiety Subscale). Academic performance was indexed using standardized examination scores. Latent moderated structural equation modelling (LMS) was used to test the moderated mediation effects. RESULTS: Results revealed that ED significantly moderated the positive relationships between negative beliefs, cognitive confidence and need for control with anxiety. Furthermore, an inconsistent mediation (suppression) effect was found, where the negative beliefs were positively associated with academic performance, while ED amplified the negative indirect effect of negative beliefs on academic performance via anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of targeting both maladaptive MB and ED in school-based interventions. Targeting specific MB components, such as negative beliefs, may be particularly beneficial for adolescents with poor emotion regulation capacities.
Emotional dysregulation · Intervention (counseling) · Mediation · Metacognition · Moderated mediation · Young adult · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Psychological Treatments and Assessments
Subjective Well-Being, Test Anxiety, Academic Achievement
Test anxiety effects, predictors, and correlates
Cognitive Test Anxiety and Academic Performance
The role of emotion regulation in children's early academic success
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Latent Interaction Effects with the LMS Method
For better or for worse
Meta-Cognition and Worry
Emotion, Emotion Regulation, and Psychopathology
Why Beliefs About Emotion Matter
Modelling cognition in emotional disorder
Estimating and interpreting latent variable interactions
Unforgiving Confucian culture
Statistical notes for clinical researchers
Species Richness of Parasite Assemblages
Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement
Equivalence of the Mediation, Confounding and Suppression Effect
The short‐form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Dass‐21)
Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology
Metacognitive beliefs predict test anxiety and examination performance
Is emotion regulation impacted by executive functions? An experimental study
Measurement Instruments When Comparing Academic Performance and Physical Activity
Trait Anxiety, Emotion Regulation, and Metacognitive Beliefs
Emotional Regulation and Academic Performance in the Academic Context
Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance
Cognitive and Emotional Components of Test Anxiety
Best practice recommendations for data screening
Turning the knots in your stomach into bows
Age differences in personality traits from 10 to 65
Socioeconomic Status and Child Development
Life of the mind
| Highly cited | No |
|---|