Anna Widlund

• PhD
• Academy Research Fellow at Åbo Akademi University

It has been suggested that both performance and academic well-being play a role in adolescent students’ educational attainment and school dropout. In this study, we therefore examined, first, what kinds of academic well-being (i.e., school burnout, schoolwork engagement, and mathematics self-concept) and mathematics performance profiles can be iden...

This study examined Finnish 9th-graders' (N = 966) pathways to educational and occupational aspirations considering two academic domains: mathematics and reading. Multi-group structural equation models were conducted to investigate how domain-specific performance and motivational beliefs (self-concept and interest), and more general school burnout...

Inter- and intraindividual differences in Finnish adolescents’ developmental trajectories of school engagement and burnout (exhaustion, inadequacy, and cynicism) and their associations with students’ concurrent progression in mathematics performance and educational aspirations were investigated in an accelerated longitudinal study design spanning a...

The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to identify and evaluate the effects of individual characteristics associated with mathematical word problem‐solving skills among elementary school‐aged children and to unpack the quality of studies investigating these associations. The systematic review was reported according to the Preferred...

This study examined the dynamics of students' school engagement and burnout (exhaustion, cynicism) in primary school, considering both individual and classroom levels, and how teachers' occupational well-being predicted students' well-being across one school year. Data from 679 Finnish primary school students (Grades 4–6) and their teachers across...

This study examined the dynamics of students' school engagement and burnout (exhaustion, cynicism) in primary school, considering both individual and classroom levels, and how teachers' occupational well-being predicted students' well-being across one school year. Data from 679 Finnish primary school students (Grades 4–6) and their teachers across...

Mathematical word problem-solving skills are crucial for students across their lives, yet solving such tasks poses challenges for many. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of mathematical word problems that are associated with students’ performance is important. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the...

School burnout symptoms are increasing among the adolescent population in Nordic countries, especially among female students and student-athletes. In this study, we investigated the trajectories of school burnout symptoms (overall symptoms, exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy) across three years of lower secondary education, (ages 13-15) among Fin...

Background Motivational beliefs seem to decline for many during adolescence. Although this may reflect a mismatch between students' needs and the secondary schools' resources, general declines may also stem from increased dimensional comparison processes: students’ motivational beliefs tend to become increasingly domain-specific during adolescence....

We investigated lower secondary school students' (N = 511, M age = 15.3 years, girls 51.9 %) perfectionistic profiles, profile stability during the ninth grade, and how profile stability and transitions relate to students' well-being. Using latent profile analysis, students were classified according to their perfectionistic strivings and concerns (...

Background: Physical activity, fundamental motor skills, executive functions and early numeracy have shown to be related, but very little is known about the developmental relations of these factors. Procedure: We followed 317 children (3-6 years) over two years. Fundamental motor skills and executive functions (inhibition+switching, updating) wer...

Motivational beliefs seem to decline for many during adolescence. Although this may reflect a mismatch between students’ needs and the secondary schools’ resources, general declines may also stem from increased dimensional comparison processes: students’ motivational beliefs tend to become increasingly domain-specific during adolescence. Yet, inter...

Motivational beliefs seem to decline for many during adolescence. Although this may reflect a mismatch between students’ needs and the secondary schools’ resources, general declines may also stem from increased dimensional comparison processes: students’ motivational beliefs tend to become increasingly domain-specific during adolescence. Yet, inter...

We investigated Finnish students’ (N = 511, Mage = 15.3 years) perfectionistic profiles, profile stability during the ninth grade, and how the stability and transitions in profiles relate to students’ well-being. Using latent profile analysis, students were classified according to their perfectionistic strivings and concerns. Four profiles were ide...

Purpose: Few longitudinal studies have investigated the interwoven longitudinal dynamics between physical activity (PA), motor performance, and academic skills in middle childhood. Therefore, we investigated the cross-lagged associations between PA, motor performance, and academic skills from Grade 1 to Grade 3 in Finnish primary-school children....

Grounding on expectancy-value theory, this study investigated stability and change in adolescent students' (N = 508) motivational profiles in mathematics (expectancy, values, costs) during the last year of comprehensive education, and how these changes relate to relevant educational outcomes (mathematics performance and aspirations) and students’ w...

Grounding on the situated expectancy-value theory, this study investigated stability and change in adolescent students' (N = 508) motivational profiles in mathematics (self-concept, values, costs) during the last year of comprehensive education, and how these changes relate to relevant educational outcomes (mathematics performance and aspirations)...

Background: Transitioning into adolescence while simultaneously facing greater academic demands as the level of education increases often entails both academic challenges and general declines in students' school-related well-being. Still, however, relatively little is known about the causal relationship between students' academic well-being (i.e.,...

Studiens syfte var att utreda samband mellan pedagogikstuderandes tidigare studieprestationer i gymnasiet, samt deras skrivupplevelser och akademiska välbefinnande på universitetsnivå. I ett frågeformulär rapporterade finlandssvenska pedagogikstuderande (N = 192) sina studentexamensvitsord i modersmål och litteratur, samt besvarade frågor om adapti...

We investigated direct and indirect cross-sectional associations of physical activity, fundamental motor skills, executive functions, and early numeracy in preschoolers. The participants were 214 preschoolers aged three to five years. Time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activity was measured by hip-worn accelerometers and fundamental motor...

The aim of this study was to validate a teacher rating scale (TRS-EN) for assessing early numeracy skills and for identifying mathematically low-performing 3- and 4-year-old children. Fifty-six preschool teachers assessed children’s (3-year-olds = 127; 4-year-olds = 145) numerical relational, counting, and basic arithmetic skills. Construct validit...

The aim of this study was to validate a teacher rating scale (TRS-EN) for assessing early numeracy skills and for identifying mathematically low-performing 3- and 4-year-old children. Fifty-six preschool teachers assessed children’s (3-year-olds = 127; 4-year-olds = 145) numerical relational, counting, and basic arithmetic skills. Construct validit...

Background Transitioning into adolescence while simultaneously facing greater academic demands as the level of education increases often entails both academic challenges and general declines in students' school-related well-being. Still, however, relatively little is known about the causal relationship between students’ academic well-being (i.e., s...

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the developmental dynamics between academic well-being (school engagement and burnout), academic performance (mathematics and reading tests), and motivational beliefs (domain-specific self-concept and interest) and how these shape adolescent students’ educational and occupational aspirations. The aim wa...

Students seem to encounter various challenges when writing bachelor's and master's theses, indicating a need to support them in their writing processes. In this study, academic writing workshops for students writing bachelor's and master's theses were developed and investigated during three years of a participatory action research project. The stud...

Inter- and intraindividual differences in Finnish adolescents’ developmental trajectories of school engagement and burnout (exhaustion, inadequacy, and cynicism) and their associations with students’ concurrent progression in mathematics performance and educational aspirations were investigated in an accelerated longitudinal study design spanning a...

Research shows that students are often unprepared for writing their bachelor and master theses (Delyser, 2003) and that they have difficulties in completing them within stipulated time (Dysthe et al., 2006). Based on previous findings and an identified need to support students in their writing processes, the ASKA project seeks to address these issu...