5: Investigation Into Emotional Regulation Associated With Assessments in Middle School Students

Responding to a significant rise in academic stress observed by middle school teachers, particularly concerning assessments, the Emotional Regulation Project aimed to equip students in Years 6 and 7 with tools to recognise, comprehend, and cope with emotions associated with academic stress. This short-term emotional regulation programme was co-designed with an organisation that specialises in teaching mindfulness and meditation in schools, and featured classroom-based lessons that focused on developing mindful habits, students being able to name emotions, and developing gratitude. A common language for emotions was established with student input. Adopting a school-based inquiry model, baseline and post-intervention quantitative survey data were collected from students online, prior to and after assessments in one particular subject. Initial findings from the study were promising, and indicated a decline in more negative emotions such as feeling anxious, worried, and disappointed, and an increase in positive emotions such as feeling confident, excited, and happy. While students’ overall emotional regulation improved, the persistence of high assessment anxiety ratings highlighted areas for further work. The programme underscores the critical role schools play in developing the emotion vocabulary and coping skills in young adolescents. Note: In the context of this chapter, terms such as ‘anxious’ or ‘heightened emotion’ are used to describe students’ emotional responses to school-based academic test situations. These expressions refer specifically to situational feelings and reactions within the educational context, and do not imply any clinical diagnosis or underlying anxiety disorder.