The Relationship between Academic Emotions and Academic Engagement in Veterans’ Children in East Azerbaijan Province: The Mediating Role of Self-Concept

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic emotions and academic engagement mediated by self-concept among children of veterans in East Azerbaijan Province. This research had a descriptive, correlational design. The statistical population of the study comprised 1180 children of veterans studying in junior and senior secondary schools in East Azerbaijan Province in 2018-2019 school year from among whom 332 students were selected as the sample using multistage random sampling method. The research instruments included the Academic Engagement Questionnaire (Fredricks et al., 2004), the Academic Emotions Questionnaire (Pekrun et al., 2005) and the Beck Self-Concept Scale (1978). Pearson correlation, multivariate regression, and path analysis were used to analyze the data. Mediation relationships were tested using the bootstrap method. Data were analyzed via SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software. According to the results, the final model fitted the data. The results of the bootstrap test revealed that self-concept mediated the relationship between academic emotions and academic engagement. Therefore, positive academic emotions have a direct positive relationship with academic engagement and self-concept mediates this association. There was a significant, negative relationship between academic engagement and negative emotions. Twenty-three percent of the variance in academic engagement was predicted by academic emotions. Consequently, positive academic emotions in children of veterans in East Azerbaijan Province could promote the students' academic engagement through the mediation of self-concept.