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Introduction: Using the situated expectancy-value theory, it becomes possible to explain motivational functioning across alternating learning conditions not only at a particular moment but also over time. The situated expectancy-value theory provides evidence for the critical role of context. The present research examines how adolescents' success expectancies, task values, and effort develop when the conditions of the academic environment change. It also evaluates whether adolescents adopt more adaptive expectancy-value profiles in response to the need-based nature of self-directed learning as an extension of regular instruction. Within the self-directed learning approach under investigation, adolescents take responsibility for their own learning processes., Methods: The present research offers insights into the expectancy-value profiles of 754 German adolescents (M age  = 13.56; SD = 1.2; 49.4% female). A four-wave study was used to examine perceptions of self-efficacy, intrinsic value, utility value, and effort. Latent profile analyses and latent transition analyses were employed., Results: Notably, the results provide evidence that expanding instruction via self-directed learning intervals that occur for 1 week per semester contributes to more favorable expectancy-value profiles within a student's favorite subject. A mixed profile (highly confident, hardly interested) disappeared. Instead, success expectations aligned more closely with adolescents' task values and effort. All profiles settled at a higher level., Conclusions: The findings indicate that instruction that is expanded via self-directed learning intervals has positive consequences for motivational profiles over time. An initial self-directed learning episode led to a shift to more interested profile groups. The continuation of a positive trend even after a self-directed learning interval indicates that adolescents are able to continually adapt their learning to their needs during teacher-directed instruction. This study provides clues about how to design curricula in a way that counteracts the downward trend in students' motivation to learn., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

Introduction: Self-directed learning (SDL) fosters adolescents' needs satisfaction. According to self-determination theory, meeting adolescents' needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness is essential for their motivation. However, students' needs satisfaction and motivation tend to decrease during adolescence and the rate of decrease varies by gender. Prior research within the self-determination theory literature has described adolescents in traditional teacher-directed learning (TDL) contexts, but little research has examined decreases in adolescents' needs satisfaction and motivation or gender-based differences among adolescents in SDL interventions., Methods: The present two-wave study compared questionnaire data from German adolescent boys and girls (N = 754; M age  = 13.56; SD = 1.2; 49.4% girls) who attended an SDL intervention. To investigate possible gender-based differences in the interplay and extend of the variables, two multi-group structural equation model (multigroup SEM) and latent mean comparison (LMC) were programmed., Results & Conclusions: Boys reported higher values only for introjected and extrinsic regulation. With two different restricted multigroup SEMs, the present study detected additional gender-based differences. For example, the paths between autonomy and intrinsic and identified motivation were stronger for boys than for girls, and competence was only associated with intrinsic motivation among girls. Overall, these findings suggest that fewer gender-based differences exist in needs satisfaction and academic self-regulation in an SDL intervention than have been observed in previous research in TDL contexts. Further, adolescents' needs satisfaction was explicitly associated with higher forms of academic motivation (i.e., intrinsic and identified)., (Copyright © 2021 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: One major stressor of adolescents relates to the pressure students perceive from their parents accompanied by high academic expectations, while in contrast parental support is related to low levels of stress. However, it is not clear whether the perceived parental pressure and support contribute to a change in students' stress level from early to middle adolescence and if there are differences among students from low vs. high track schools., Methods: Thus, based on the conservation of resources theory, this two-wave study examined the role of perceived maternal and paternal pressure and support for students' general stress level from grades 8 to 9 among students attending high- and low-track schools by applying multigroup multilevel latent change modeling based on data from 1088 8 th grade students (M Age = 13.70, SD = 0.53, 53.9% girls at Time 1)., Results: Results indicate that the general stress level from early to middle adolescence increases for students from low-track schools only. This change increases even more if students from lowtrack schools perceive pressure from their fathers, whereas perceived paternal support dampen the increase of stress. For students from high-track schools, perceived maternal pressure is positively and maternal support negatively related to students' stress level in grade 8. Overall, boys tend to report lower stress levels compared to girls., Conclusions: The findings of the present study support the conservation of resources theory, as both perceived support and pressure from parents and the educational context predict students' stress development during adolescence., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: It has already been shown that positive emotions can positively influence learning behavior. However, what is less known is whether teacher support mediates this relationship in adolescents of varying ages and genders in self-directed learning (SDL) at school., Methods: Data gathered with questionnaires given to 754 German students (Mage = 13.56; SD = 1.2; 49,4% female students) at two measurement times is used as the empirical basis of this study. To control for possible gender and age-based differences in the interplay and extent of the variables, a multigroup structural equation model and latent mean comparison (LMC) were carried out, whereby four groups [female 6th/7th graders, male 6th/7th graders (earlier adolescence), female 8th/9th graders, male 8th/9th graders (middle adolescence)] were examined., Results: Across from the female 8th/9th graders as the reference group, the LMC showed that all other groups have significantly higher mean values for positive emotions. In addition, female 6th/7th graders report a significantly higher level of volition. Teacher support partly mediates all relations. Group differences in the interplay of the variables were excluded., Conclusion: The results of the study highlight the importance of teacher support when SDL is carried out in school. Thus, teacher support reduces the effects between positive emotions and learning behavior. This means that in self-directed learning, even those students who develop weaker positive emotions are supported., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study examined gender-specific relationships between adolescents' perceptions of school-related support/pressure from their parents and test anxiety. A sample of German students (N = 845; Mage = 15.32; SD = .49) completed questionnaires that measured their perceived parental support/pressure (for mother and father separately) as well as the four main components of test anxiety (worry, interference, lack of confidence, and emotionality). Gender-specific relations were identified using multigroup structural equation modeling: For girls, perceived maternal pressure was positively associated with emotionality and interference; for boys, perceived father pressure and father support were positively associated with interference and worry, respectively. For both genders, perceived mother pressure and support were related to lack of confidence. Our findings suggest that adolescents' perceptions of maternal attitudes are associated with students' self-confidence irrespective of the child's gender, whereas the remaining facets of test anxiety follow same-sex trajectories between perceived parental attitudes and adolescents' test anxiety., (Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)