Adaptability and emotional, behavioural and cognitive aspects of self‐regulated learning: Direct and indirect relations with academic achievement and life satisfaction

Abstract

Background Adaptability regulates individuals' cognitive, behavioural and emotional responses to new, unexpected and uncertain situations, but to date no study has analysed whether adaptability contemporarily favours cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of learning. Aims This study aims to address this gap by examining (i) the direct relations between adaptability and achievement emotions, self‐regulated learning strategies and academic self‐efficacy and (ii) the direct and indirect relations between adaptability and academic achievement and life satisfaction through and over the other study‐related factors. Sample A total of 1083 students (415 males, Mage = 13.37, SDage = 1.97, age range = 10–18) in grades 6–12 participated to the study. Method Questionnaires were used to measure students' adaptability, positive and negative achievement emotions, self‐regulated learning strategies, academic self‐efficacy and life satisfaction. Schools provided grades obtained by each student at the end of the academic year. Results A path analysis based on 1083 students (10–18 years old) confirmed that adaptability directly relates to the three study‐related factors considered and to life satisfaction and indirectly relates to academic achievement and life satisfaction—through the mediation of the other variables. Conclusions The results, discussed in accordance with the self‐regulated learning theory, enlarge the nomological framework of adaptability and highlight its importance for emotional, behavioural and cognitive aspects of self‐regulated learning.

Adapt, Explore, or Keep Going? The Role of Adaptability, Curiosity, and Perseverance in a Network of Study-Related Factors and Scholastic Success

“…Our results, in line with recent evidence ( Feraco et al 2023b ; Muenks et al 2017 ), showed that soft skills are distal from academic achievement, but highlighted their role as possible predictors of study-related factors that mediate the association between soft skills and academic achievement ( Weber and Harzer 2022 ).…”

“…It might probably be that it is this common variance that explains its association with the behavioral and motivational aspects of study-related aspects, as suggested by studies on the general factor of soft skills (e.g., Feraco et al 2022a ). Interestingly, the main role that adaptability assumed in the network is linked with achievement emotions, an effect that only recently, and mainly because of the stressful COVID-19 pandemic, captured the attention of scholars ( Feraco et al 2023b ; Zhang et al 2021 ). Future studies should then better understand the mechanism underlying the association between adaptability and emotions.…”

“…The Adaptability Scale ( Martin et al 2012 ; Italian version by Feraco et al 2023b ) measures the ability to efficiently regulate emotional, behavioral, and cognitive responses to new and uncertain situations. It includes nine items on a 7-point Likert scale (e.g., “I am able to adjust my thinking or expectations to assist me in a new situation”).…”

“…In particular, adaptability, or the ability to successfully regulate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in front of new and uncertain situations ( Martin et al 2012 ), has been associated with higher levels of motivational factors, such as academic self-efficacy ( Feraco et al 2023b ; Martin et al 2017 ), growth mindset ( Martin et al 2012 ), mastery learning goals ( Burns et al 2018 ; Martin et al 2017 ), positive achievement emotions ( Feraco et al 2023b ; Zhang et al 2021 ), scholastic engagement ( Burns et al 2018 ; Collie et al 2017 ), and SRL strategies ( Feraco et al 2023b ). This confirms the idea that students with higher adaptability levels are also more able to cope with the continuous changes that schools present them: different schools (e.g., moving from middle school to high school), different subjects, schoolmates, unexpected tests, changing teachers, and so on.…”

Adaptability and Grit: Foundations for Their Joint Contribution to Students' Academic and Nonacademic Outcomes

“…The Adaptability Scale (Martin et al, 2012; Italian adaptation by Feraco, Casali, Ganzit & Meneghetti, 2023) measures the ability to efficiently regulate psycho‐behavioral functions in response to new and uncertain conditions. It includes nine items on a 7‐point Likert scale (e.g., “I am able to adjust my thinking or expectations to assist me in a new situation”).…”