This study examined how self-worth of students mediated and moderated their perceived positive teacher-student relationships and student engagement among middle-school students from rural China. Eighth graders (N = 838) completed surveys measuring their perceived relationships with teachers, their self-worth, and engagement. Statistical analyses revealed significant correlations among all three variables, with the strongest being between teacher-student relationships and student engagement. The structural equation modeling indicated that self-worth partially mediated the effect of teacher-student relationships on student engagement; however, positive teacher-student relationships were a stronger predictor. Multigroup analyses identified self-worth as a moderator, whereby students with lower self-worth were more reliant on positive teacher-student relationships to enhance their engagement. This study provides insights into how self-worth of students and their perceived positive teacher-student relationships influence their academic engagement in disadvantaged rural areas of China.
This study developed an Adolescents’ Uncertainty Scale (AUS), with the aim of understanding individual differences in uncertainty among adolescents. In the pretest phase, 507 ninth-grade students were recruited. After exploratory factor analyses, a 25-item AUS with four dimensions—irresoluteness, instability, lack of self-knowledge, and uncertainty of future—was obtained. During the formal testing phase, 3106 ninth grade students were recruited. The internal consistency reliability of the subscales was between .85 and .90, and the overall reliability was .95. Confirmatory factor analysis also indicated that the four-dimension model had acceptable internal validity. To assess external validity, 1967 ninth-grade students were recruited. Gathering the data of students’ test anxiety and academic achievement, the results revealed that uncertainty partially mediated the effect of academic achievement on test anxiety, which is in line with the uncertainty-of-stress model (USM). On the basis of the preliminary results, the scale may be used for counseling and by educators.
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