Mindset and perceived parental support of autonomy safeguard adolescents’ autonomous motivation during COVID-19 home-based learning

The COVID-19 school closures (first wave, 2020) drastically reduced adolescents’ in-person support from teachers and peers, potentially increasing the need for self-driven engagement. Given the importance of autonomous motivation for academic success, the study asked which personal and family factors could protect adolescents’ autonomous motivation during home-based learning when compared to their pre-pandemic motivation. Guided by mindset theory and self-determination theory, the authors hypothesized that a growth mindset would predict higher autonomous motivation during home-based learning (controlling for pre-pandemic levels) and that feelings of school burnout might mediate this relation. They further hypothesized that the basic psychological needs—autonomy (parental autonomy support), relatedness (positivity of parent–adolescent interaction), and competence (self-efficacy)—would positively predict autonomous motivation during home-based learning, controlling for pre-pandemic motivation and parental factors.

Prior work reported declines in academic motivation during the pandemic and highlighted adolescent vulnerability due to developmental changes and increased mental health problems. Mindset theory distinguishes fixed versus growth beliefs about intelligence; pre-pandemic studies linked growth mindset to higher autonomous/intrinsic motivation and more adaptive coping. Early evidence during COVID-19 (mostly in older adolescents) suggested growth mindset related to engagement and buffered academic stress. School burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, inadequacy) is negatively associated with growth mindset and relates to poorer academic outcomes; thus burnout was considered as a potential mediator. Self-determination theory posits three basic needs—autonomy, relatedness, competence—as foundational for autonomous motivation. Pre-pandemic research shows parental autonomy support is positively associated with adolescents’ autonomous motivation and school engagement, and positive parent–child interactions foster engagement. Competence and self-efficacy predict persistence and autonomous motivation, potentially critical during independent, online learning. However, many COVID-19 studies lacked true pre-pandemic baselines or relied on retrospective reports, underscoring the need for longitudinal designs with pre-pandemic measures and parent–adolescent dyads.

Design and participants: Longitudinal study with true pre-pandemic data (February 2020) and follow-up during the first Dutch lockdown approximately three weeks after school closures (March–April 2020). Sample included Dutch adolescents and one parent per adolescent. For analyses: (a) mindset/burnout model used N = 97 adolescents (including the 76 dyads plus additional adolescents), and (b) self-determination model used N = 76 parent–adolescent dyads. Mean ages: adolescents Mage ≈ 14.6 years; parents Mage ≈ 48.7 years. Measures (adolescent-reported unless noted): - Autonomous motivation (pre and during lockdown): scale reported by adolescents (means: pre 2.80, SD 0.62; post 2.68, SD 0.62). - Mindset: 8-item intelligence beliefs scale (4 fixed/entity items reverse-scored + 4 growth/incremental items), 1–6 Likert, higher = stronger growth mindset; reliability α = 0.89 (validated Dutch version). - Feelings of school burnout: School Burnout Inventory (exhaustion, cynicism, inadequacy), 1–6 Likert; higher = more burnout; reliability α = 0.88 (Dutch translation/back-translation). - Self-efficacy: 5-item PALS subscale, 1–6 Likert, higher = more self-efficacy; reliability α = 0.76 (validated Dutch version). - Perceived parental autonomy support: Child version of Parent–Child Interaction–Revised (Dutch), 30 items across authority and acceptance subscales (reverse-keyed items included); combined as perceived autonomy support, higher = more support; reliability α = 0.94. - Positivity of parent–adolescent interaction (parent-reported): 5-point Likert ratings of positive and negative interactions (negative reversed), averaged; higher = more positive. Procedure and analyses: Two stepwise multiple regression analyses with autonomous motivation during home-based learning as the outcome. Model 1 (mindset theory): Step 1 controls—adolescent age, gender, pre-pandemic autonomous motivation; Step 2—add mindset; Step 3—add feelings of school burnout and test mediation (mindset → burnout → autonomous motivation) using 5,000 bootstrap samples to estimate indirect effects (95% percentile CI). Model 2 (self-determination theory): Step 1 controls—parent gender, parent education level, and adolescent pre-pandemic autonomous motivation; Step 2—add perceived parental autonomy support (autonomy), positivity of parent–adolescent interaction (relatedness), and self-efficacy (competence). Bonferroni correction applied for two primary regression analyses (alpha = 0.025). Assumptions were checked and met. Software: R version 1.40.32. Power analyses indicated adequate power to detect medium effects for both models (N = 97 and N = 76).

- Autonomous motivation showed continuity from pre-pandemic to lockdown: pre measurement strongly predicted lockdown autonomous motivation (Model 1: β = 0.589, t = 5.84, p < 0.001; Model 2: β = 0.63, t = 6.27, p < 0.001). - Growth mindset positively predicted autonomous motivation during home-based learning, beyond age, gender, and pre-pandemic motivation (Model 1 Step 2: β = 0.245, t = 2.16, p = 0.020; Step 3: β = 0.294, t = 2.66, p = 0.012). - Feelings of school burnout negatively predicted autonomous motivation during home-based learning (Model 1 Step 3: β = -0.329, t = -2.80, p = 0.007). - Mediation by burnout was not supported: mindset did not significantly predict burnout (β = 0.13, t = 1.03, p = 0.275); indirect effect of mindset on autonomous motivation via burnout = -0.038, 95% bootstrap percentile CI [-0.12, 0.03], p = 0.251. - In the self-determination model (N = 76), perceived parental autonomy support positively predicted adolescents’ autonomous motivation during home-based learning (β = 0.275, t = 2.405, p = 0.019), explaining additional variance beyond controls. - Parent gender showed a positive effect (β ≈ 0.24, p ≈ 0.020), suggesting that the involvement of mothers was associated with higher adolescent autonomous motivation relative to fathers. - Positivity of parent–adolescent interaction (parent-reported) and adolescent self-efficacy did not significantly predict autonomous motivation when included with other predictors (p ≥ 0.29). - Descriptively, autonomous motivation decreased from pre (M = 2.80, SD = 0.62) to during lockdown (M = 2.68, SD = 0.62).

The study’s central questions were whether a growth mindset protects against declines in autonomous motivation during COVID-19 home-based learning and whether basic psychological needs support predicts motivation. Findings confirm that adolescents endorsing a growth mindset maintained higher autonomous motivation during the transition to online learning, even after accounting for pre-pandemic levels. This aligns with prior evidence linking growth mindset to adaptive responses and intrinsic motivation, indicating that growth-oriented beliefs may foster resilience and sustained engagement when external supports are reduced. Although school burnout was a significant negative correlate of autonomous motivation, it did not mediate the mindset–motivation relation, suggesting that mindset may influence motivation through other mechanisms (e.g., mastery-oriented strategies, persistence) rather than primarily via reducing burnout symptoms in this context. From the self-determination perspective, perceived parental autonomy support emerged as a significant positive predictor of autonomous motivation, underscoring the pivotal role of the home environment in satisfying adolescents’ need for autonomy during school closures. The observed effect of parent gender indicates that maternal involvement was associated with higher adolescent autonomous motivation, though causality cannot be inferred. In contrast, parent-reported positivity of interaction and adolescent self-efficacy were not significant when modeled alongside autonomy support and prior motivation, suggesting that autonomy-supportive parenting may be especially salient for maintaining adolescents’ autonomous motivation during remote learning. Collectively, these results highlight complementary personal (mindset) and family (autonomy support) factors that help safeguard adolescents’ autonomous motivation under disrupted schooling conditions, offering actionable targets for interventions and parental guidance during future home-based learning scenarios.

This study contributes longitudinal evidence with pre-pandemic baselines showing that: (1) a growth mindset is associated with higher autonomous motivation during COVID-19 home-based learning, and (2) adolescents’ perceptions of parental autonomy support predict greater autonomous motivation, beyond prior motivation and parental characteristics. Feelings of school burnout were negatively associated with motivation but did not mediate the mindset–motivation link. These findings identify key personal and family-level levers to help maintain adolescents’ motivation during educational disruptions. Future research should test targeted, scalable mindset and autonomy-support interventions (including online delivery), examine long-term trajectories post-closure, incorporate multi-informant and objective behavioral/achievement measures, and assess generalizability across cultures and educational systems.

- Generalizability is limited by the specific context (Dutch adolescents) and modest sample sizes (N = 97 for the mindset model; N = 76 parent–adolescent dyads for the self-determination model). - Observational design precludes causal inference regarding the effects of mindset and parental autonomy support on autonomous motivation. - Reliance on self-report (and single-informant for several constructs) may introduce common-method bias; parent-reported interaction quality did not align as a significant predictor when modeled with other variables. - The study conducted two primary regression analyses, potentially inflating type I error; a Bonferroni correction (alpha = 0.025) was applied to mitigate this risk. - The measurement window captures an early phase of the pandemic; findings may not reflect longer-term adaptations or later stages of remote/hybrid schooling.