Negative emotionality, emotion regulation, and achievement: Cross-lagged relations and mediation of academic engagement

Relative to the research interest on the role of emotional functioning in children's achievement, less focus has been on the interplay between the two. Based on a short-term longitudinal sample, we tested the bidirectional relations between negative emotionality, emotion regulation, and achievement. We also tested if academic engagement mediated the link from negative emotionality and emotion regulation to achievement. The study sample consisted of 199 third through sixth grade students (wave 1) who participated in two waves of the study (14 months apart, on average). Teachers rated children's emotional functioning and engagement, and reading achievement was assessed by state-wide standardized tests. Results of cross-lagged path analyses indicated significant directional effects from negative emotionality and emotion regulation to achievement, but not vice versa. Also, results supported that the link from negative emotionality and emotion regulation to achievement was mediated through academic engagement. Findings indicate that promoting children's academic skills might have a broader positive impact on children's emotional development.