# The relationship between adolescents’ self-regulated learning and academic achievement: an interrelated mediation model of academic emotions: evidence from a nationwide sample in China

## TL;DR

This study shows how self-regulated learning and positive emotions in students boost academic success, especially with good teacher-student relationships.

## Contribution

It introduces a recursive relationship between self-regulated learning and academic emotions, validated with a large Chinese sample.

## Key findings

- Self-regulated learning is strongly linked to higher academic achievement.
- Positive high-arousal emotions mediate the relationship between self-regulated learning and academic success.
- Teacher-student relationships moderate the effects of self-regulated learning and emotions on achievement.

## Abstract

In the 21st century, self-regulated learning (SRL) plays a vital role in the cultivation of high-quality talent. Grounded in self-regulated learning theory and attachment theory, this study aims to systematically examine the relationship between adolescents’ SRL and academic achievement, considering the roles of academic emotions and teacher–student relationships (TSR). Additionally, the study investigates whether a recursive pathway exists from academic emotions back to SRL.

The study draws on nationwide survey data from China (N = 88,149 students) and employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the relationships among SRL, academic emotions, TSR, and academic achievement. Academic emotions were included as a mediating variable, and TSR as a moderating variable.

The results indicate that: (1) adolescents’ levels of SRL are significantly and positively associated with their academic achievement; (2) three types of academic emotions (e.g., positive high-arousal emotions) significantly mediate the relationship between SRL and academic achievement; and (3) TSR moderate both the first stage of the mediation pathway (“SRL → academic emotions → academic achievement”) and the direct effect of SRL on academic achievement.

Overall, the findings support the cognition–emotion cyclical model, suggesting that students can enhance SRL through positive academic emotions, while appropriate SRL strategies can in turn foster positive academic emotions, forming a virtuous cycle that strengthens students’ autonomy in the learning process. This study extends Pintrich’s SRL model by empirically validating a recursive loop between SRL and academic emotions. Furthermore, it highlights a “dual empowerment” path of emotional regulation and metacognitive monitoring through optimized TSR, offering vital policy insights for fostering high-order autonomous learning in the AI era.