Abstract
Maintaining the emotional well-being of learners during a pandemic is important. This study explored the effects of two emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and perceived control on full remote learners' anxiety during Covid-19, and their relationship to perceived learning. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze 239 questionnaires completed by Chinese graduate students taking a course remotely from home for 13 weeks. This study showed that reappraisal was positively related to perceived control, whereas suppression was negatively related to perceived control. Reappraisers perceived more learning, whereas suppressors experienced more anxiety. Anxiety was significantly and negatively related to perceived learning. Mediation analyses showed the existence of different patterns of mediation in the pathways from the two types of emotion regulation to perceived learning. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant studies conducted during non-pandemic periods and Covid-19, and based on the results we highlight the need for interventions aimed at developing adaptive emotion regulation strategies and reducing anxiety in emergency remote learning.
Highlights
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Covid-19 as a pandemic (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2020)
We found the indirect effect of perceived control in the association between cognitive reappraisal and learning to be significant [standardized estimate (Std. estimate) = 0.197, 95% CI: 0.157, 0.382], whereas the indirect effect passing through anxiety was not (Std. estimate = 0.024, 95% CI: −0.005, 0.094)
This study examined the effects of two emotion regulation strategies on perceived control over learning and anxiety in a sample of graduate students taking a remote course during the pandemic
Summary
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Covid-19 (coronavirus disease) as a pandemic (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2020). Learning in brick-and-mortar classrooms was urgently suspended and replaced by full remote learning. This sudden change placed a severe psychological burden on learners (Pakpour et al, 2020; Sycamore, 2020), in addition to the negative emotions directly or indirectly caused by the pandemic, such as anxiety about being infected, loneliness due to lockdowns, and worries over financial strain and academic delays (AlAteeq et al, 2020; Cao et al, 2020; Gubler et al, 2020; Husky et al, 2020; Savitsky et al, 2020). Anxiety exacerbated during Covid-19 remote learning is thought to be a barrier to learning success (Gillis and Krull, 2020)
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