Autonomy in school: how autonomy is experienced matters more than how much autonomy is provided

Research identifies two distinct motivational pathways: one that supports persistence and achievement, and another that fuels procrastination and school burnout

As academic pressure intensifies for adolescents worldwide, educators and parents face a familiar dilemma: Should schools give students more autonomy to support motivation and well-being, or does structure and control remain essential for performance? A new study published in the Journal of Adolescence suggests that this question may be too simplistic.

The research shows that how autonomy is experienced matters more than how much autonomy is provided. Specifically, autonomy satisfaction (feeling that one’s actions reflect personal values and interests) and autonomy frustration (feeling pressured, controlled, or coerced) are not opposite ends of a single continuum. Instead, they represent distinct psychological experiences that steer adolescents toward markedly different academic and emotional outcomes.

Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage in which the desire for independence increasingly collides with structured educational demands. This tension becomes especially pronounced in high-stakes learning environments, such as high schools preparing students for competitive college entrance examinations.

In a study published online on January 15, 2026, researchers led by Dr. Yi Jiang examined the learning experiences of 1,639 high school students.

“Autonomy isn’t just a simple slider from ‘low’ to ‘high’,” the research team explains. “Students can experience limited choice without feeling controlled. However, when they actively feel pressured or coerced, that is, when autonomy is frustrated, we observe clear links to maladaptive learning behaviors and school burnout.”

The study identified two distinct pathways associated with adolescents’ autonomy experiences:

• The Thriving Path: When students experienced autonomy satisfaction, they were more likely to persist in the face of academic challenges. This sustained effort, in turn, was associated with stronger academic achievement, highlighting the motivational benefits of feeling self-directed and volitional in learning.
• The Stressing Path: Autonomy frustration was strongly linked to procrastination, which emerged as a key contributor to school burnout, a state of emotional exhaustion and disengagement from schoolwork. Importantly, this pathway primarily undermined students’ well-being rather than directly lowering performance.

The study also uncovered gender differences in how autonomy experiences relate to learning behaviors. While autonomy was important for all students, boys appeared to rely more strongly on autonomy satisfaction to sustain persistence and motivation in academic tasks.

“These findings suggest that supporting autonomy is not simply about offering more choices,” the authors note. “Reducing controlling pressures and need-thwarting practices may be just as critical, particularly in high-pressure educational contexts.”

 

Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.70107

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DOI

10.1002/jad.70107 

How much sleep do teens get? Six-seven hours.

 

And that is definitely not enough.

Teenagers across the country are getting less sleep, a researcher from the University of Connecticut reports on March 2 in JAMA. And the problem appears to be societal.

Teens not getting enough sleep has been reported as a problem in the medical literature since at least the turn of the 20th century: a 1905 study in The Lancet of the sleep hours of boys in British boarding schools worried that they were not getting enough sleep due to nighttime lighting, and suggested that “late to bed and early to rise is neither physiological nor wise”. Later on in the 1950s public concern focused on evening entertainments such as radio and television keeping teens awake too late. More recently, research has connected too little sleep with overstimulation, mental health problems, accidents, and academic challenges.

But teens are getting even less sleep than they used to, report UConn School of Medicine psychiatric epidemiologist T. Greg Rhee and colleagues in their latest look at the Youth Risk Behavior Survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Youth Risk Behavior Survey provides nationally-representative data to examine long-term trends of risk behaviors in teens. Rhee and his colleagues’ analysis of the survey data from 2007 to 2023 shows more than 50% of teens are reporting less than 5 hours of sleep a night in the most recent survey, more sleep deprived teens than in any previous survey. Less than five hours of sleep a night is considered very short sleep, and is associated with emotional regulation issues such as anxiety and depression, poor academic performance or neurocognitive development, and increased risks for obesity and diabetes. Teen getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night increased across all subgroups in the most recent survey, whether they had risk factors such as depressive thoughts, using controlled substances, or had large amounts of screen time, or no risk factors at all. The number of teens getting sufficient sleep, defined as eight or more hours a night, dropped from more than 30% in 2007 to less than 25% in 2023.

“These trends highlight the need for population-level interventions among teens. For example, later school start times can help with longer sleep, which may lead to better mental health outcomes and greater academic engagement,” said Rhee and his colleagues. 
 
More research is needed into which interventions might be effective on the population level. For example, Rhee suggests researchers examine whether reforming academic or extracurricular schedules to reduce evening demands could improve sleep health among teens. 

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Journal

JAMA

DOI

10.1001/jama.2026.1417 

Young gamers may be at higher risk of mental health problems, school support can help

 Pre-teens who struggle to control their video gaming habits are more likely to have psychotic-like experiences a year later, a new study has found.

McGill University researchers and colleagues at Maastricht University found that 12-year-olds who showed signs of problematic gaming were more likely to experience mild paranoia, unusual beliefs or disturbed perceptions at age 13.

“Problematic gaming means having difficulty controlling one’s amount of gaming, leading to distress or problems at school or in relationships,” said lead author Vincent Paquin, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and psychiatrist at the Jewish General Hospital.

Supportive environments matter

Notably, young gamers who felt more supported at school and at home were less likely to have problematic gaming habits overall.

“For health professionals, teachers and policymakers, our findings highlight the importance of promoting supportive social environments. It may help prevent gaming from becoming problematic,” said Paquin.

Once gaming became problematic, however, support from family and school alone was not enough to offset the later mental health link, he added, suggesting that other forms of mental health supports may be needed.

How the study was conducted

The findings, published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, are based on data from more than 6,000 U.S. adolescents. The broader study began when participants were nine. They were surveyed at ages 12 and 13 about their gaming habits, mental health and daily lives.

Using statistical models, researchers examined whether problematic gaming predicted later mental health symptoms. The association persisted even after accounting for earlier mental health symptoms and family factors, suggesting the link was not simply a product of pre-existing problems.

Looking beyond screen time

More broadly, the results add nuance to current conversations about screen time, suggesting the risks may be more about quality than quantity.

“Video games can foster creativity, social connection and a sense of agency. But in a minority of young people, they become sources of distress that crowd out other aspects of life,” said Paquin.

The team is now developing a practical assessment tool to help doctors and educators better understand not just how much young people game, but how gaming fits into their broader lives and well-being.

About the study

“Situating problematic gaming and psychotic-like experiences in the adolescent landscape of affordances: A cohort study” by Vincent Paquin and Sinan Gülöksüz et al., was published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

Pollen exposure linked to poorer exam results taken at the end of secondary school

 

Effects strongest for subjects involving maths, including physics and chemistry Recognition needed of this and its potential impact on future prospects, say researchers

Pollen exposure is linked to poorer exam results taken at the end of secondary (high) school (matriculation), with the effects especially noticeable in subjects involving maths, including physics and chemistry, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

 

Recognition is needed of the adverse effects of fluctuations in pollen levels on academic performance and the potential impact on a student’s future prospects, conclude the researchers.

 

Allergic rhinitis, caused by an allergic reaction to nasal irritants, such as dust, pet hair, mould and pollen, is known to undermine wellbeing and undermine cardiovascular health, sleep quality, concentration, and mood, explain the researchers.

 

These effects can be amplified by air pollution and extreme weather, which alter plant growth, pollen production, and allergenic potential, they add. But it’s not clear if pollen exposure might also affect academic performance.

 

To explore this further, the researchers studied all 92,280 students who took the national high school matriculation exam in the metropolitan areas of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland between 2006 and 2020.

 

The researchers retrieved matriculation exam results from Statistics Finland, focusing on grades obtained in Finnish, History and Social Studies, Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry to see if they changed in relation to pollen exposure during this period. The students’ average age was 19, but ranged from 16 to 77.

 

Daily regional pollen counts of alder (Alnus spp) and hazel (Corylus avellana) were monitored throughout this period, because these are the only plants that bloom and release pollen grains in Finland around the time of the spring matriculation exams.

 

Levels were expressed as pollen grains per cubic metre of air and classified as low (1–10); moderate (10–100); or abundant (100+). Data on air pollution (PM2.5, O3, NO2) and weather were obtained from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

 

The maximum average daily alder pollen count was 521 pollen grains/cubic metre of air on an exam day; that of hazel was 57/cubic metre of air.

 

In all, 156,059 exam scores were included in the analysis, which showed that matriculation exam scores fell noticeably on days with low and high levels of pollen (U-shaped curve) compared with days when there was no pollen in the air.

 

An average environmental increase of 10 alder and hazel pollen grains was associated with a fall in the standardised matriculation exam score by an average of 0.0034 and 0.0144, respectively. This corresponds to a reduction in points of  0.042 and 0.17, respectively (on a scale of 0–66).

 

The fall in matriculation exam scores was even greater after accounting for temperature, ambient air pollution, and rainfall during exam hours.

 

Similar trends were observed for both sexes, although an increase of 10 alder pollen grains was associated with a statistically significant drop in the matriculation exam scores only among females, corresponding to a reduction of 0.0652 points.

 

Each additional 10 pollen grain increase in alder was associated with a statistically significant fall in exam scores in maths subjects for both subjects, possibly because these subjects require a greater level of accuracy and concentration, suggest the researchers.

 

On the other hand, hazel pollen exposure  was associated with a drop in maths scores only among males.

 

This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. And the researchers acknowledge that they didn’t have any information on who, among the students, was allergic to pollen, although around 1 in 5 secondary school students is affected by allergic rhinitis, they point out.

 

“Because of this, it is likely that the drop in matriculation exam scores observed in the data is largely explained by pollen induced symptoms among students who were allergic... It would be likely that those suffering from pollen allergies would have a higher than average drop in matriculation exam scores,” they explain.

 

“This is relevant for the student’s future because the scores of the matriculation exams have a reasonably prominent weight value when applying for further education, as well as placement in working life and income,” they add.

 

They conclude: “From the point of view of further education studies and employment, it is important to be aware that exposure to pollen can impair success in test situations.

 

“To create more equal performance conditions, we should find solutions to reduce exposure to pollen and its harmful effects (eg, scheduling exams outside the pollen season), to improve preparedness (eg, more accurate and accessible pollen information) and/or to start medication in a timely way (eg, increasing the awareness of healthcare professionals and people who are allergic to pollen).”

 

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Journal

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

DOI

10.1136/jech-2025-224112 

Children’s development set back years by Covid lockdowns

 

The Covid pandemic disrupted children’s ability to self-regulate - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

A new study reveals that the pandemic hampered children’s ability to regulate their behaviour, stay focused and adapt to new situations - skills known collectively as executive functions.

The greatest impact was seen among pupils who were in reception when the first lockdowns began - a crucial stage when youngsters normally learn to socialise, follow routines and navigate the busy world of the classroom.

These children showed less growth in their self-regulatory and cognitive flexibility scores over time compared to a second group of children who were in preschool when the pandemic started.

The research team say these children may still be feeling the effects years later.

How the research happened

Scientists were already running a long-term study tracking youngsters from toddlerhood to early school years when the Covid pandemic hit.

They followed 139 children aged between two-and-a-half and six-and-a-half years old over several years, including 94 families who joined the study before Covid struck.

This meant that they had a rare baseline of children’s abilities before the pandemic began, which allowed them to track exactly how development changed during and after the lockdowns.

Using a standardised assessment called the Minnesota Executive Function Scale, they were able to measure the same cognitive skills at regular intervals.

Reception pupils fell behind and struggled to catch up

Lead researcher Prof John Spencer, from UEA’s School of Psychology, said: “Children who were in reception when the country shut down showed much slower growth in key self-regulation and cognitive flexibility skills over the next few years than children who were still in preschool.

“These children found it harder to shift between tasks and control impulses - abilities that usually improve rapidly once children enter structured school environments.

Why reception-age children suffered the most

“Reception is a critical year for peer socialisation,” said Prof Spencer.  “It’s when children learn classroom norms and build early friendships that shape their confidence,” said Prof Spencer.

“But for the cohort who started school in 2020, classrooms were closed, routines collapsed overnight, and opportunities for social interaction were severely limited.”

Without these experiences, children’s self-regulatory skills didn’t develop as quickly year-on-year after the lockdowns ended.

Many in this cohort also caught Covid more frequently, raising the possibility that periods of illness worsened the issue.

Key findings:

• Individual differences in executive function abilities were remarkably stable. Children who had stronger skills at two-and-a-half years old tended to remain ahead at six-and-a-half years.
• Children from lower socio-economic households consistently scored lower, echoing long-standing research on the impact of maternal education and home environment.
• Even when controlling for age and family background, Covid’s impact was evident. Children who were in reception at the start of the pandemic made more modest improvements in executive function compared to those still in preschool.

“Our findings suggest that peer socialisation and the new self-regulatory skills children must master in reception might be particularly critical for the development of executive function skills.

“Without these experiences, reception children had a challenging time developing self-regulation and cognitive flexibility in the years that followed the pandemic.

Extra support

The researchers say their work highlights a generation of children who may need more support from teachers, schools and health services in coming years.

The findings also raise questions about how to protect children’s development in future national emergencies.

This research was led by the University of East Anglia, in collaboration with Lancaster University and Durham University.

‘Tracking the trajectory of executive function from 2.5 to 6.5 years of age and the impact of COVID‐19’ is published in the journal Child Development.

Loneliness linked to fear of embarrassment: teen research

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A University of the Sunshine Coast study of young teenagers has identified a vicious cycle of loneliness linked to the fear of embarrassment or judgement by peers.

The study of more than 170 children aged 13 to 15 found that those staying under the radar socially to avoid judgement reported greater loneliness, as well as lower trust, connection and participation in friendships.

“It explored why some teens feel lonely even when surrounded by their peers, and identified the key pattern of social avoidance,” said UniSC Lecturer in Psychology Helen Hall, a practising psychologist who led the research for her ongoing PhD.

“They withdraw from socialising to avoid being judged, then fail to learn skills around trust, joining in, and give-and-take, then feel lonely and avoid their peers even more.

“Unfortunately, some teens suffer because they have empathy and recognise other perspectives, which are wonderful skills that are decreasing among this age group.”

She said it was somewhat surprising that teens who chased popularity or status among their peers reported less loneliness, despite other studies to the contrary.

“Previous research has shown that large friend networks or status goals do not necessarily lead to greater wellbeing or healthier social behaviour,” said Ms Hall, acknowledging the ‘mean girls’ factor.

“However, in this case, they do appear to be protective factors against loneliness when they are channelled into mutually supportive, trusting relationships.”

She said the overall findings reflected some key reasons for the global loneliness epidemic producing poorer psychological and social outcomes among adolescents.

“Parents and teachers need to help our teens find safe, low-pressure ways of participating and connecting with their peers,” said Ms Hall, a mother of four.

“Don’t rely on the old advice to ‘stop caring what others think’ and be cautious if encouraging social media contact. Generally, our teens will gain richer skills when they participate with others in-person.

“Listen and validate what they’re experiencing and help them take small steps.”

Five tips to help a lonely teen

1. Pivot the focus to trust. Find one peer they feel most at ease with and one adult they can talk to, then discuss what action they can do to strengthen those ties;
2. Teach reciprocity by creating micro-scripts of give-and-take in friendships – checking in, asking people to sit with them, showing empathy;
3. Encourage them to practise social courage. What’s one small step they can take this week instead of avoidance?
4. Make sure they are getting some decent sleep and self-care;
5. Try a 10-minute ‘download’ (write the worry), then a reset routine (shower, music, stretch).

The study involved students from four independent schools across Queensland and was published in the journal Child & Youth Care Forum with UniSC supervisors and co-authors Dr Prudence Millear and Professor Mathew Summers.

Ms Hall is now examining how this social avoidance can impact student engagement with schools and self-belief in their own academic abilities.

The UniSC Psychology Honours graduate was awarded the University’s top student honour, the Chancellor’s Medal, in 2018 for her contributions to academia, the university and wider communities.

Ms Hall’s research is already having an impact on parents and adolescents through the work of Michelle Mitchell, a best-selling author of parenting and children’s resources who speaks at schools and community events across Australia.

Ms Mitchell said there was “gold” in the findings for parents trying to better understand their children’s needs for belonging and security in social situations.

“I’m particularly keen to share the concept of reframing that old advice about not caring what others think,” she said.

“I hope every parent takes that saying out of their vocabulary and realises that our kids do need to pay attention to what other people think. Social feedback is important. That's how they read the room and understand themselves in context, so they can contribute in a meaningful way.”

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DOI

10.1007/s10566-026-09923-6 

Do best friends or popular peers shape teen behavior?

 As children enter adolescence, peers become a dominant force in their lives. With adult supervision waning, teens look to agemates for guidance on how to act, think and fit in. But who matters most –friends or the popular classmates? A groundbreaking longitudinal study from Florida Atlantic University reveals that peer influence is not a monolithic process. Instead, different types of peers exert influence over entirely different domains of a child’s life.

Researchers at FAU and collaborators at Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania) conducted a long-term study to directly compare these two sources of influence. The study, published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, is the first to simultaneously compare the relative impact of best friends versus classroom norms, which are driven by popular classmates. The findings indicate that while best friends primarily shape a child’s internal emotional state and academic behavior, popular peers set the standard for public image and social media engagement.

The investigators followed 543 students ages 10 to 14 (middle school in Lithuania is fifth through eighth grade) across a semester, examining self-reports of academic performance, emotional well-being, problem behaviors, social media use and concerns about weight. Participants also identified their best friends and classmates they considered popular. Popularity norms described classmate behaviors in each domain, weighted by popularity scores.  

“This is the first study to put best friends and popular peers in the same model and ask, ‘Who matters more, and for what?,’” said Brett Laursen, Ph.D., a professor of psychology in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

The findings revealed a striking pattern. Best friends primarily shaped a child’s internal emotional states and academic behaviors, whereas popular peers set the standard for public image. Specifically, best friends were the primary influencers for behaviors reflecting internal dysfunction and maladjustment, including emotional problems, lack of emotional clarity, problem behaviors, and low school achievement. Popular peers, by contrast, shape behaviors performed in view of others. Teens emulate high-status classmates in terms of social media use and weight concerns.

“Peer influence is too often treated as a broad, undifferentiated force, but our findings show it is actually highly specialized. Adolescents are discerning; they look to their inner circle for emotional support and to the influencers and class leaders for social cues on how to present themselves to the world,” said Mary Page Leggett-James, Ph.D., lead author and associate researcher at Gallup, describing results from her doctoral dissertation at FAU. “Put differently, in the social economy of a middle schooler, best friends deal in the ‘private currency’ of emotions and adjustment, while popular peers control the ‘public market’ of social media and appearance.”

The study suggests that adolescents use different mental calculations to navigate their social world. Friendships are based on reciprocity and intimacy, which promote shared experiences and emotional states. In contrast, peer groups are organized hierarchically. Conformity through public-facing behaviors like social media use and body image are important to maintaining status in the group. Thus, youth are not just blindly following others, they are using social strategies tailored to specific social settings.

“Friendships are powerful because they are private and emotionally intense,” Laursen said. “Teens confide in their best friends. That closeness can provide support, but it can also amplify struggles. Anxiety, disengagement from school, or acting out can spread between friends and have a snowball effect. Appearance and online behavior play out on a public stage. Popular students set the standard. Others follow because that is what earns approval in the wider peer group.”

The research offers vital insights for intervention. Because different peers shape different forms of maladjustment, uniform solutions may fail.

“Peer influence is powerful, but it is not one-size-fits-all,” said Leggett-James. “Too often we treat peer pressure as if it comes from one place. But the source of influence matters. If we target the wrong peer dynamic, we risk missing the problem entirely. To reduce emotional distress or academic problems, we need to focus on friendship dynamics and help adolescents build positive peer connections – not try to ban or break up friendships. At the same time, issues tied to social media and body image require shifting status norms. When popular students display healthier, more realistic standards, they can redefine what classmates consider normal.”