In the early-elementary years, emerging readers experience many emotions due to the high value that is placed on the development of reading skills. If emotions are not regulated using effective learning strategies, they can negatively shape students' experiences in and perceptions of reading, which can be detrimental to their developing reading skills. This study used automated facial expression monitoring software (FACET) to examine whether emotions affect the types of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies students use during a narrative storytelling task and whether SRL strategies affect narrative storytelling scores. The participants were 150 emerging readers (M age = 8, SD = 10.63, 56% girls). Results demonstrated that two emotions were related to SRL strategies; frustration was negatively related to planning and joy was positively related to monitoring. Two SRL strategies were related to narrative storytelling; planning and control were positively related to narrative storytelling scores. There was a significant indirect effect of frustration on storytelling scores through planning, indicating that planning fully mediated the effect of frustration on narrative storytelling scores. This finding suggests that although frustration has a significant negative effect on story comprehension, this relationship operates through decreased use of planning strategies. Future research should investigate pedagogical strategies to manage emotions and increase SRL strategy use during reading and literacy activities.

The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound effects on physical and mental health worldwide. Students transitioning out of high school were uniquely impacted at the onset of the pandemic, having missed the opportunity to properly mark the end of their final year in the K-12 school system. The adverse effects of this loss on this population are still unknown. The purpose of the current study was to examine stress, wellbeing, and affect in a sample of 168 students (N = 168; Mage = 17.0, SD = 0.46; 60% female; 40% male) who were completing their final year of high school during the early stages of the pandemic when emergency stay-at-home orders were in place. Participants completed an online survey assessing the impact of COVID-19 on their life satisfaction (pre-COVID19, during COVID-19, and anticipated five years from now), stress, positive affect, and negative affect. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to create classes of participants based on their responses to the pandemic. A two-subgroup solution provided the best model for the life satisfaction outcome variable. Subgroup 1, optimists, comprised 24% (N = 40) of the sample and reported high life satisfaction ratings one year prior to COVID-19 and a slight decrease in life satisfaction during COVID-19, and they anticipated an increase in life satisfaction 5 years from now. This group was characterized by low stress, low negative affect, and high positive affect during the pandemic. Subgroup 2, realists, comprised 76% of the population (N = 128) and experienced similarly high retrospective ratings of pre-COVID life satisfaction but a larger decrease in life satisfaction during the pandemic and a smaller increase in five years. The realist group was characterized by low positive affect, high stress, and high negative affect during the pandemic. The findings suggest that during the pandemic, certain subsamples of adolescents had greater difficulty in managing this transitional period and experienced changes in mood and well-being (i.e., affect, stress) as compared to other adolescents (i.e., optimists). Future research should investigate the characteristics and coping mechanisms that are instrumental for increasing life satisfaction and positive affect while lowering stress in this population.

No abstract