Katariina Salmela-Aro

University of Helsinki | HY

REMEDIS employed pre- and post-test designs to assess 12 media literacy and digital skills (ML&DS) interventions across six European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Spain and the UK). Pre-tests measured sociodemographic data, digital skills, media literacy and expected uses and outcomes. Post-tests, both immediate and delayed, assesse...

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tarkastella peruskoulun 8-luokkalaisten oppilaiden sosioemotionaalisten taitojen profiileja ja niiden eroja kouluinnossa koronasyksynä 2020. Tutkimukseen osallistui 981 oppilasta (40 % tyttöjä, 38 % poikia, 2 % muu, 20 % ei kertonut sukupuoltaan) Helsingin alueen kouluista. Kaksivaiheisen klusterianalyysin avulla...

Investigating the effectiveness of media literacy interventions is essential to identify the most promising programs. This 2022 systematic evidence review, guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline, aimed to collect and synthesize scientific evidence on effective media literacy intervention programs...

While loneliness for short periods of time is normal, prolonged loneliness has severe health risks. This study aims to discover what loneliness trajectories can be found in a cohort of adolescents, how belongingness to different groups may be associated with these trajectories, and the mental, physical, and academic consequences of these trajectori...

This study investigated the development of study engagement from the end of upper secondary school through the first and second years of higher education. The participants experienced the challenges related to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic while they were either university students or preparing for university entrance exams. The study emp...

The aim was to investigate the cohort trends of the experienced social connectedness in secondary school students between 2017 and 2021 and whether these trends vary by gender, school level and sociodemographic background. We used nationally representative Finnish data of 450,864 students in lower and upper secondary education. Social connectedness...

This study utilized piecewise linear growth mixture analysis to examine the developmental heterogeneity of school burnout among a sample of 513 (67.6% females) Finnish students as they transitioned from upper secondary school to higher education (ages 17-25 years). Encompassing five measurement points (two before the transition and three after), ou...

The well-being of school principals is paramount, as they play a central role in school operations and education (Beausaert et al., 2023). According to Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017), job characteristics (job demands and resources) and employees’ personal characteristics (personal resources) are key determinants of e...

Abstract Background Research on the nature and prevalence of phenomena like climate anxiety (or eco-anxiety) is increasing rapidly but there is little understanding of the conditions under which climate change worry becomes more or less likely to significantly impact mental wellbeing. Here, we considered two plausible moderators of the relationship...

School burnout, defined as prolonged feelings of exhaustion, cynical attitude and inadequacy feelings towards schoolwork, can lead to mental problems during adolescence. To find effective ways to prevent burnout, this study examined the synergistic role of two positive personal resources, a stress-is-enhancing mindset and academic buoyancy in relat...

The gender gap in job burnout research indicates that women score higher on job burnout. However, this gender difference has rarely been studied from developmental perspectives. Moreover, the underlying gender differences in job resources—driven by gendered socialization in early career years—have been under-investigated. The present study examined...

Numerous studies have sought to determine whether low self-esteem acts as a risk factor for depressive symptoms (i.e., a vulnerability model) or whether depressive symptoms lead to a decrease in self-esteem (i.e., a scar model). Although both models have received some support, very little research has: (a) addressed this question across critical li...

Digital skills are considered critical for functioning in contemporary society, yet there are differences between adolescents’ skills depending on demographic and socioeconomic variables. This study, utilising data from six EU countries ( N = 6221; M age = 14.5; SD = 1.4), takes a person-oriented approach to examine adolescents digital skill profil...

The purpose of this study was to explore school principals’ job crafting profiles during the prolonged COVID-19 crisis in 2021, and investigate profile differences regarding principals’ own perceived servant leadership, stress and work meaningfulness. Methodological approach: Using latent profile analysis (LPA), two job crafting profiles were iden...

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging adults are especially vulnerable as they experience its financial impact as a source of stress. We tested a model of psychological resilience among emerging adults (18–25 years) during the pandemic from six Western countries (Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and United States) using online survey d...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore school principals’ job crafting profiles during the prolonged COVID-19 crisis in 2021, and investigate profile differences regarding principals’ own perceived servant leadership, stress and work meaningfulness. Design/methodology/approach Using latent profile analysis (LPA), two job crafting profile...

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan peruskoulun seitsemäsluokkalaisten (N=977) odotuksia ja arvostuksia kolmea lukuainetta sekä ilmiölähtöistä oppimista kohtaan. Aineisto kerättiin syksyllä 2019 sähköisellä motivaatiokysymyksiä sisältäneellä kyselylomakkeella. Henkilösuuntautuneella tutkimusotteella tunnistettiin viisi motivaatioprofiilia odotuksista ja ar...

Recent cross-sectional and experimental research has found measures of climate change related distress to be positively associated with measures of self-efficacy. Authors of some of these studies have interpreted this finding in terms of motivated control, that is, people who experience climate change related distress are motivated to believe that...

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths’ development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6–10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the par...

This longitudinal study (N = 1078, 46% boys; 54% girls) examined profiles of loneliness and ostracism during adolescence and their consequences and antecedents. Longitudinal latent profiles analyses identified four distinct profiles: (1) High emotional loneliness (25%), High and increasing social loneliness (15%), High peer exclusion and high socia...

The decline of curiosity during adolescence has received increasing concerns in education. The present study aimed to identify the key factors in the environment that promote young people's curiosity from a needs-based ecological perspective, focusing on family and school. To enable a better understanding of the developmental effects, this study co...

People around the world are worried about the climate crisis and increased attention is being drawn to the implications that this can have for mental wellbeing. While research on the nature and prevalence of phenomena like climate anxiety (or eco-anxiety) is increasing rapidly, there is still very little understanding of the conditions under which...

Digital skills are considered critical for functioning in contemporary society, yet there are differences between adolescents’ skills depending on demographic and socioeconomic variables. This study, ulizing data from six EU-countries (N=6221; Mage=14.5; SD=1.4), takes a person-oriented approach to examine adolescents digital skill profiles and ass...

This study investigates adolescents’ climate change distress and climate denialism profiles with two cohorts (born in 2008 and 2006) using longitudinal data from two waves collected in 2020 and 2021 ( N = 3,002). In addition, the explanatory similarity of the subgroups regarding general well-being and pro-environmental behavior was studied. Four pr...

The evidence regarding how social media use (SMU) influences adolescents’ daily lives is contradictory. Using experience sampling design, we examined associations between adolescents’ pre-bedtime SMU, same-night sleep and wellbeing at school the next day. In addition, we examined how social pressure to stay available to others and related availabil...

Despite the importance of school connectedness and bullying victimization in students’ school burnout, to our knowledge, very few studies have analyzed their reciprocal associations, and most of them have used cross-sectional designs. So, the nature and directions of these relations have not been established yet. The general aim of this study was t...

In this chapter, we analyze and discuss teaching, learning and well-being in Finnish education during the COVID-19 pandemic between Spring 2020 and Fall 2022. First, we analyze the preconditions, such as teachers’ and students’ digital competences and the digital infrastructure necessary to switch to distance teaching and learning. Second, we prese...

The COVID-19 pandemic affected adolescents’ social interactions and mental health. However, it is still unclear how the developmental trajectories of individuals at higher risk of social exclusion and victimization changed during this challenging period. Using the Latent Growth Curve Analysis (LGCA), the present study aims to investigate whether be...

Based on the integrative needs model of crafting (de Bloom et al., 2020), we introduce a concept of needs-based study crafting, which refers to students' proactive and self-initiated changes in their study that target psychological needs satisfaction. Specifically, this study aimed to develop an instrument to assess needs-based study crafting and t...

The present study explored a set of plausible directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of constructs involved in Situated Expectancy–Value Theory (SEVT) using cross-sectional data. To do so, three datasets (n = 1,540; 1,867; and 103) with expectancy, values, and prior achievement constructs were used. First, networks showed a consistent magnitude of associat...

Background Prenatal posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), fear of childbirth (FOC), and depressive symptoms have been related to various negative effects during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the postnatal period. This study evaluates the prevalence of PTSS, FOC, depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among pregnant women, t...

The Let’s Talk about Children intervention is a tool for parents and professionals to work together to promote children’s positive development, resilience, and psychosocial well-being in social and healthcare services, at school, and in day care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fidelity, parents’ experiences, and perceived benefits of usi...

Theoretical background: Proactive behavior-self-initiating change, or "making things happen," with the aim of achieving a different future (Parker et al., 2010)-has been prized by organizations for its potential advantages to both employees and organizations. In particular, such behavior among leaders is of key importance for maintaining effective...

Research suggests that the reported increase in student mental health issues such as study burnout might be related to students’ identity problems and their motivations for undertaking higher education. The present study added to this line of research by investigating the associations between identity profiles, motives for attending university and...

Goal and Theoretical background: The stress of the COVID-19 crisis is clearly taking a toll on school principals, who are already dealing with a large workload (Lien et al., 2022). It is important to take into account their well-being, as they play a crucial role in their school and beyond (Liebowitz & Porter, 2019). Job and off-job crafting, a sel...

Purpose Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth causes severe and lasting effects. Screening of childbirth experience may expedite early PTSD recognition. Systematic reviews have not provided consensus on how and when to measure childbirth experience and the clinical implications of such measurements. We aimed to identify a reliable...

Background: Although research has linked children's temperament with weight outcomes, the associations between temperament and dietary outcomes, particularly energy intake, remain understudied. Furthermore, little is known about how temperament is associated with diet in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) context, which is an important...

Background: This study explored the physiological correlates of students' self-reported emotions in ecologically valid settings by combining biosignal data (on physical and cardiac activity) and experience sampling method (ESM) data. Aims: The aim was to examine the concurrent associations between self-reported excitement, calmness, anxiety, and...

This chapter reflects on the twelve-year Swiss research program, “Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives” (LIVES). The authors are longstanding members of its scientific advisory committee. They highlight the program’s major accomplishments, identify key ingredients of the program’s success as well as some of its challenges, and raise p...

According to the modern expectancy-value theory, students’ task values may differ across domains, manifesting as varying motivational patterns. In middle school, students’ motivation becomes increasingly apparent and may direct their future occupational aspirations. Using a person-oriented approach, this study examines students’ self-concept, and p...

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan, miten opettajien työhyvinvointi (työn imu ja työuupumus) kehittyi koronapandemiassa keväästä 2020 kevääseen 2022 sekä miten kouluaste, stressi ja koronatartuntojen määrä olivat yhteydessä työhyvinvointiin. Lisäksi tutkitaan, missä määrin työn imu ja työuupumus olivat yhteydessä alanvaihtointentioihin. Opettajat (N...

The present study investigated the qualitatively different moments of engagement and disengagement experienced by students at upper-secondary school in academic situations. Further, we examined between-student differences in the occurrence of these moments and their associations with both momentary task performance and overall academic achievement....

Previous research on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values has mostly applied a variable-oriented approach . This study took a person-oriented approach and investigated how values co-occur and are manifested in individuals, that is, what kind of value profiles exist and how they differ in terms of subjective (i.e., life satisfaction) and social w...

What is the real value of entrepreneurship? We propose a framework of psychological utility by integrating Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory with a recovery approach from a personal agency perspective. We hypothesize that personal agency together with the positive JD-R pattern of entrepreneurship generates outstanding psychological utility, which...

To piece empirical studies on student engagement together, this chapter uses the framework presented in the Study Demands-Resources (SD-R) model. The SD-R model offers a comprehensive view on engagement, demands, resources, and outcomes, and on the interplay of various antecedents. Unlike previous frameworks , the SD-R model endorses the duality of...

Background and objectives Child's temperament dimensions have been linked with different weight outcomes as well as dietary factors such as consumption of fruit and vegetables, sugar-rich foods and drinks and an overall dietary quality. Links between temperament dimensions and energy intake, however, remain under-examined. This study expands the li...

Lately, new materialism has been proposed as a theoretical framework to better understand material-dialogic relationships in learning, and concurrently network analysis has emerged as a method in science education research. This paper explores how to include materiality in network analysis and reports the development of a method to construct networ...

This study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change infor...

This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between emotions and development of scientific understanding by examining (1) how students perform in scientific sensemaking in the context of a three-cycle predict-observe-explain (POE) activity, (2) what kind of trajectories of situational epistemic emotions students show when making...

To better understand the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) aspiration, the article examines the critical role of domain-specific motivation (i.e., expectancy and task values). Using longitudinal data from 5th and 6th grade (∼11–12-year-old) students (n = 360, 55% girls), person-oriented analyses was applied to understan...

Purpose To identify the changes of school burnout for Finnish adolescents in lower (grades 8–9) and upper secondary schools (grades 10–11) during years 2006–2019; and to examine the associations of personal—(gender, family socioeconomic, and immigrant status) and school-related (school level, urban–rural area) sociodemographic demands and resources...

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most universities to switch from in-person to remote teaching from May 2020 to May 2021. This period covered three semesters of studies, and due to these changes students experienced fundamental changes in their learning. The present research was carried out 3 times during the pandemic (e.g., May 2020, December 2020, an...

Given that skill variety is widely regarded a key component of entrepreneurial human capital, gender differences in entrepreneurship could be rooted in the formation of such skill variety. Analyzing 12-year longitudinal data following 1,321 Finnish adolescents into adulthood, we study whether gender differences in skill variety open up early in the...

School burnout is a new and emerging trend that presents a risk for student learning, successful educational and occupational transitions, and overall well-being. School engagement, on the other hand, leads to positive outcomes. This paper reviews recent research conducted in Finland examining school burnout and engagement during the major educatio...

In their recently renamed theory, Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT), Eccles and Wigfield (2020) emphasized the importance of situations in influencing individuals’ motivational beliefs and academic choices. Adopting a novel approach—network analysis, this study aimed to examine how situations may impact the associations among expectancies, su...

This study seeks to identify profiles of depressive symptoms trajectories among a sample of 2,696 Finnish students (56.8% female), followed from 13–14 to 18–19 years old. Piecewise growth mixture analyses identified 5 trajectories: Low Stabilizing (6.20%), Mild Increasing (47.90%), Moderate Stabilizing (36.82%), Low Increasing (3.62%), and High Sta...

The years of adolescence form a crucial period in students’ academic path, as it is during these years that the maladaptive or adaptive academic pathways begin to diverge. Simultaneously, the unsupervised engagement with digital media begins a sharp increase during these years. The dynamics between these have been a recent topic of concern – does e...

Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, miten luonnontieteen oppitunneilla esiintyvät opetuksen ja opiskelun työtavat ovat yhteydessä opiskelijoiden kokemaan tilannekohtaiseen sitoutumiseen. Tilannekohtaisella sitoutumisella viitataan optimaalisen oppimisen hetkiin, joissa opiskelijoiden kokema kiinnostus, taito ja haaste ovat yhtä aikaa korkealla tasolla. Tut...

The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10; Rammstedt & John, 2007) is one of many short versions of personality inventories that measure the Big Five trait dimensions. Short versions of scales often present methodological challenges as a trade-off for their convenience. Based on samples from 28 countries (N = 10,560), the current study investigated inter-i...

Social-emotional skills have been shown to be beneficial for many important life outcomes for students. However, previous studies on the topic have suffered from many issues (e.g., consideration of only a small subset of skills, single-informant, and single-cohort design). To address these limitations, this study used a multi-informant (self, teach...

The assessment of student wellbeing has been often static and lagged behind for the intervention/diagnostic purpose. In this chapter, we aim to introduce an automated school wellbeing scoring dynamic real-time system, School Day Wellbeing Model. With Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based item sampling methods and answers scoring and reporting systems,...

Previous studies have examined the neural correlates of receiving negative feedback from peers during virtual social interaction in young people. However, there is a lack of studies applying platforms adolescents use in daily life. In the present study, 92 late-adolescent participants performed a task that involved receiving positive and negative f...

Three studies on the relationship between curiosity and interest were reported. The first study was a meta-analysis that examined the Pearson correlations between scales assessing curiosity and interest. Based on 24 studies (31 effect sizes), we found that the curiosity scales correlated with the interest scales at a moderate level (r = .53), but t...

Current educational reforms concerning curricula and digitalization challenge educators to meet new demands for learning and schooling. What is common for current educational reforms is that they tend to emphasize competencies that are not related to the traditional subject-matters and reflect a stance which presents learning as a naturally reflect...

Epistemic emotions (surprise, curiosity, enjoyment, confusion, anxiety, frustration and boredom) have an object focus on knowledge or knowledge construction and are thus hypothesized to affect learning outcomes. In the context of upper secondary school science, the present study clarifies this relation by examining the students’ pre- and posttest p...

Introduction Evidence for the relationship between movement behaviors and mental health among adolescents is inconclusive. We aimed to identify profiles of digital media use (including related bedtime delay) and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in adolescence, and to examine whether preadolescent mental health predicted later behavior profiles...

Introduction The majority of adolescents engage with others online, and using social media is one of their top activities. However, there is little longitudinal evidence addressing whether active social media use is associated with study‐related emotional exhaustion or delayed bedtime at the individual level of development during adolescence. Meth...