Academic Emotion Regulation among Lower Secondary School Students in Vietnam

Academic emotions shape adolescents’ motivation, engagement, and well-being, yet how lower secondary students regulate learning-related emotions in Vietnam remains insufficiently understood. This study examined the current status of academic emotion regulation among 489 Vietnamese lower secondary school students (Grades 6-9) through a quantitative cross-sectional survey. Academic emotion regulation was measured using the Academic Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (AERQ), which assesses eight strategies: avoiding situations, developing competences, redirecting attention, reappraisal, suppression, respiration, venting, and seeking social support. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, independent-samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA. Results showed an uneven pattern of strategy use. Developing competences was most frequently reported (M = 3.83, SD = 0.68), followed by respiration, redirecting attention, seeking social support, and suppression; avoiding situations (M = 1.95, SD = 0.84) and venting (M = 2.03, SD = 0.97) were least used. Correlation analysis indicated weak-to-moderate associations among strategies. Constructive and supportive strategies tended to co-occur, particularly respiration and seeking social support (r = .420, p < .01) and developing competences and respiration (r = .410, p < .01). Avoiding situations was positively associated with venting (r = .336, p < .01), suggesting a less adaptive response pattern. Gender differences were limited to suppression, with female students reporting higher scores than male students, t(482.64) = 3.10, p = .002. Grade-level differences emerged only for avoiding situations, F(3, 485) = 5.55, p = .001, with higher scores among Grades 8 and 9. These findings suggest that academic emotion regulation among Vietnamese lower secondary students is multidimensional and context-sensitive. School-based support should strengthen students’ flexible use of adaptive strategies, especially during high-pressure transition years, rather than focusing only on controlling visible emotional expression.

academic emotion regulation, emotion regulation strategies

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