Yueer Liang’s research while affiliated with South China Normal University and other places

Academic burnout, triggered by a combination of external factors and internal psychological characteristics, significantly impacts secondary school students' academic performance and psychological well‐being. We use achievement goal orientations, including mastery approach, mastery avoidance, performance approach, and performance avoidance, to identify distinct motivational profiles, in 1137 middle school students. Subsequently, we used regression mixed models and network analysis to examine between‐subgroup differences in the relationship between school climate, an external factor, and academic burnout. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed three typical patterns of goal pursuit: success‐oriented (17.8%), characterized by motivation across various goals; moderated motivation (70%), lacking a salient dominant goal and clear motivational tendency; and unmotivated (12.8%), showing a lack of interest and motivation in learning. Among the success‐oriented subgroup, academic burnout was most strongly associated with campus climate. Network comparison results showed stronger links between “student‐student support” and “exhaustion,” as well as “autonomy” and “efficacy reduction,” among students in the success‐oriented subgroup compared to those in the unmotivated subgroup. Therefore, educational or counseling programs should be developed, tailored to different goal‐seeking models and the specific school climate.

Peer relationships are essential for the social development of adolescents and serve as indicators of social health. Previous research indicates that individuals with high self-control tend to engage in behaviors that strengthen peer relationships; however, the mediating and moderating factors in this relationship remain underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of rumination and the moderating effect of gender-role orientation among Chinese adolescents. In Study 1, 1,064 adolescents (592 girls) completed questionnaires assessing self-control, rumination, gender-role orientation, and peer relationships. Results revealed that rumination significantly mediates the relationship between self-control and peer relationships, with gender-role orientation moderating the relationship between self-control and rumination-strongest in the femininity group and weakest in the androgyny group. In Study 2, a self-control intervention was implemented with 46 adolescents (26 girls). The findings indicate that while the intervention positively influences the direct relationship between self-control and peer relationships, it does not significantly impact the indirect effect via rumination. This study is the first to demonstrate the dynamic effects of self-control interventions on their association with peer relationships, highlighting the importance of addressing both mediating and moderating variables in future research.