The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem in the Relationship Between Self-Regulation Skills and Academic Engagement with Learning Anxiety Among Students with Learning Disabilities
Keywords:
Learning anxiety, self-regulation skills, academic engagement, self-esteem, learning disabilities, studentsAbstract
The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between self-regulation skills and academic engagement with learning anxiety among students with learning disabilities. In terms of purpose, this study was descriptive, and methodologically, it employed a correlational design based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of all elementary school students in the city of Isfahan who had been diagnosed with learning disabilities during the second half of the 2025–2026 academic year. Using purposive convenience sampling, 200 students from the fourth to sixth grades were selected. The measurement instruments included the Learning Anxiety Questionnaire (Pekrun et al., 2005), the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the Self-Regulation Skills Questionnaire (Bouffard et al., 1995), and the Academic Engagement Scale (Fredricks et al., 2004), which were administered to the selected participants. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling through SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 19. The results indicated that the direct relationships of academic engagement with learning anxiety, metacognitive self-regulation skills with learning anxiety, self-esteem with learning anxiety, and cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation skills with self-esteem were statistically significant (p < .05). However, the relationships between cognitive self-regulation skills and learning anxiety, as well as between academic engagement and self-esteem, were not statistically significant (p > .05). Furthermore, the indirect effects of cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation skills on learning anxiety through the mediating role of self-esteem were significant (p < .05), whereas the indirect relationship between academic engagement and learning anxiety through self-esteem was not significant (p > .05). Based on these findings, strengthening academic engagement, enhancing self-regulation skills, and promoting self-esteem may serve as effective strategies for reducing learning anxiety and improving the academic performance of students with learning disabilities.
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