Emotion regulation strategies in mathematical problem solving: process of validation of a questionnaire.

Hanin, Vanessa [UCL] Van Nieuwenhoven, Catherine [UCL]

Although emotions constitute a more recent object of research, they are known, like cognitive and motivational dimensions, as a major component of learning and academic performance (Ahmed, Minnaert, van der Werf & Kuyper, 2013 ; Hanin & Van Nieuwenhoven, 2014 ; Op’t Eynde, De Corte & Verschaffel, 2007). Inasmuch emotions are regarded as a major component of the learning process in the same way as cognitive and motivational dimensions, it becomes necessary to be able to regulate them. In this respect, we investigated the strategies mostly used by fifth and sixth graders to regulate negative emotions when resolving mathematical problems. Among the various classifications of emotion regulation strategies proposed in the literature, we retained the one of Mikolajczak, Quoidbach, Kotsou & Nélis (2009). Given the lack of instrument grasping their set of strategies, we designed a questionnaire based on several existing tools. It examines 19 strategies through 57 items. 757 students of grade 5 and 6 coming from 15 Belgian schools took part in this study. The internal validity of the questionnaire has been confirmed by factorial structure analysis and Cronbach’s alphas. First of all, principal component analysis highlighted 8 groups of regulation strategies: 4 viewed as adaptive and 4 viewed as maladaptive. It also seems that adaptive strategies are less used by boys than by girls. Moreover, our findings showed that older students resort significantly more to maladaptive strategies than younger ones when resolving mathematical problems. Finally, whatever the school level, students appeal more to adaptive strategies than to maladaptive ones.