The Role of School Life Quality in Predicting Adolescents' Learned Helplessness with the Mediating Role of Assertiveness

Abstract

Objective: The current study was conducted to determine the role of school life quality in predicting the learned helplessness of adolescent students with the mediating role of assertiveness.

Methods and Materials: The research population consisted of all 8th-grade male students in Birjand city during the 2023-2024 academic year, totaling 2514 students. According to the Krejcie and Morgan table and using a multi-stage cluster sampling method, 335 students were selected as the sample. The data collection tools were the Williams and Button (1981) School Quality of Life Questionnaire, the Gambrill and Richie (1975) Assertiveness Scale, and the Quinless and Nelson (1988) Learned Helplessness Scale. Pearson correlation coefficient test and structural equation modeling approach were used for data analysis. SPSS -26 and Smart PLS-3 software were used for data analysis.

Findings: All direct path coefficients relating school life quality to assertiveness were positive and significant with learned helplessness being negative and significant (p<0.01). Moreover, the results showed that the model of the relationship between assertiveness and learned helplessness was negative and significant (p<0.01). Finally, the bootstrap test results indicate that the indirect path coefficient between school life quality and learned helplessness through the mediating variable of assertiveness is significant at the alpha level of 0.01 (p<0.01). In other words, the proposed research model has an acceptable fit at the 0.01 level of significance. The quality of school life, through the mediating variable of assertiveness, has the ability to indirectly predict the level of learned helplessness in adolescents, and improving the quality of school life, and consequently increasing the level of adolescent assertiveness, facilitates the reduction of their learned helplessness.

Conclusion: Based on the research findings, it is possible to predict adolescents' learned helplessness through the variables of school life quality and assertiveness. Therefore, the results of the research provide a basis for conducting extensive studies aimed at improving the quality of life in schools and strengthening adolescents' assertiveness.