Academic Anxiety, Self-Regulated Learning Ability, and Self-Esteem in Chinese Candidates for College Entrance Examination During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Survey Study

PURPOSE: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a challenge for adolescents in China. This study aimed to explore the relationship between academic anxiety and self-esteem in Chinese candidates preparing for the college entrance examination during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the mechanism of mediating effect of self-regulated learning ability. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 293 college entrance examination candidates (including 170 females) from two middle schools in China using a voluntary, web-based, and anonymous questionnaire implemented via the Questionnaire Star app during COVID-19 prevalence in 2020. RESULTS: This study found that 1) students in the high and low academic anxiety groups had different levels of self-regulated learning ability and self-esteem, 2) the academic anxiety, self-regulated learning ability, and self-esteem levels of students were significantly correlated and 3) after controlling the two independent variables of gender and subject type, academic anxiety had a significant negative predictive effect on self-esteem, and self-regulated learning ability played a mediating role between academic anxiety and self-esteem, where the mediating effect was 18.6%. CONCLUSION: Based on the observations of the present study, self-regulated learning capacity was a mediator between academic anxiety and self-esteem. These findings suggest an underlying process by which low academic anxiety may increase self-esteem in candidates preparing for the college entrance examination by increasing self-regulated learning ability.