A Study of Causal Relationship between Perception of Family Communication Patterns, Perception of Class Structure, Motivation and Academic Self-regulation and Academic Buoyancy in High School Adolescents

Human beings go through ups and downs of life full of challenges and opportunities. A great number of life challenges are related to adolescence among which one can refer to academic challenges (e.g., low grades, levels of stress, confidence threats due to performance, decrease in motivation and interaction, etc.). As one of these challenges, academic life is a period of time when rapid cognitive and social changes occur (Spear1, 2000). Thus, researchers interested in education have paid attention to adaptation and compatibility with opportunities and challenges of life.Within different viewpoints, collection of capabilities and aptitudes which influence this kind of compatibility has been paid attention to. Academic buoyancy is one of such capabilities and aptitudes which make individuals compatible against threats, impediments, difficulties, and pressures during academic environment. Academic buoyancy reflects academic tolerance within the framework of positive psychological field. Academic buoyancy is defined as the student's ability in successfully dealing with impediments and academic challenges which are considered as usual in academic life (Martin & Marsh, 2008). Also, academic buoyancy refers to positive, compatible responses adaptive to different challenges and impediments which are experienced through continuous and ongoing academic field (Putwain, Connors, Symes, & Douglas-Osborn, 2011).As academic buoyancy antecedents in different levels, psychological factors, school and engagement factors in the education process, and family and peers factors have been paid attention to (Martin & Marsh, 2008). Among family and peers factors, one can name family support and its communication patterns. Many experimental observations (e.g., Alva, 1991; McMillan & Reed, 1997; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; Voydanoff & Donnelly, 1999; Wayman, 2002) support the role of these factors in increasing compatibility, competence and success.Among school and engagement factors in the education process, class structure has been paid attention to. From Ames’ (1992) viewpoint, the structure of class is a multi-dimensional variable and should be evaluated within different fields. In this sense, three main areas are considered for class structure: tasks, evaluation and authority. Tasks constitute the main element in classroom learning. Evaluation includes methods of student evaluation and study of class factors influencing motivation. Authority dimension refers to the teachers’ orientation in giving options to students and the level of control students have in class activities.Among the psychological factors, motivation and academic self-regulation can be considered as important factors influencing academic buoyancy as proposed by Bandura within social-cognitive theory (Schunk, 2005). Motivation and academic self-regulation are related to one's feeling of capability in managing learning activities, knowing educational subjects, and fulfilling academic objectives (Keith & Frse, 2005). Motivation and academic self-regulation as personal variables have a significant role in one's encountering of life issues and can influential factors in academic and educational situations (Salovaara, 2005). Accordingly, the present study was conducted to discover the effect of psychological and contextual factors (family communication patterns, class structure and motivationand academic self-regulation) as the main elements on the degree of student's academic buoyancyResearch questions: The present study aimed at investigating motivation and academic self-regulation mediatory role in the relation of family communication patterns and class structure with academic buoyancy. Therefore, the present study sought test the following hypotheses:- It is possible to predict student's academic buoyancy based on family communication patterns and class structure.- It is possible to predict student's motivation and academic self-regulation according to family communication patterns and class structure.- Motivation and academic self-regulation can have the mediatory role in the relationships between family communication patterns and class structure (as endogenous variables) and academic buoyancy (as exogenous variable). The design of the study is correlational. Family communication patterns and class structure were considered as endogenous variables, academic self-regulation and motivation as mediatory variables, and academic buoyancy as the final exogenous variable. The sample included 392 high school students (205 females and 187 males) in the city of Poldokhtar. They were chosen through multi-stage random cluster sampling. To collect the required data, four tools of the child version of the Revised Family Communication Patterns (RFCP, Fitzpatrick & Ritchie, 1997), Structure of Class questionnaire (Elliott & Cherch, 2001), the revised scale of School Attitude Assessment (McCoach & Seigle, 2003), and academic buoyancy questionnaire (Dehghanizadeh & Hoseinchari,1391) were used. All the tools enjoyed appropriate reliability and validity. Analysis of the data through path analysis and based on Baron and Kenny (1986) showed that the conversation dimension, tasks and authority directly predict academic buoyancy and motivation and academic self-regulation. The variables of motivation and academic self-regulation can play a mediatory role between the family communication patterns, tasks and authority on the one hand and student's academic buoyancy on the other. In general, the findings of the study emphasize the direct and indirect effect of family communication patterns on the mediatory role of motivation and academic self-regulation. Not only do the motivation and academic self-regulation have a direct effect on academic buoyancy, but also they act as a mediatory variable between the conversation orientation, tasks and authority and academic buoyancy. Effective relationship with parents leads to the creation of and increase in motivation and academic self-regulation and with this increase, confidence is built within students. About the significance and influence of self- regulation beliefs, Bandura (2001) maintains that none of the individual cognitive beliefs is as constructive as efficacy in managing individuals’ compatibility performance in dealing with difficulties and stressful conditions. Students with high self-esteem in their performance appear as energetic and believe that they can overcome difficulties and challenges. Such a belief in personal capabilities in confronting environmental stressful stimuli is accompanied by compatible performance of buoyancy.