Teacher-student relationship and class flow in physical education class: The mediating effect of emotion regulation

Abstract

Positive teacher–student relationships are associated with several student outcomes, including reduced problematic behavior; increased academic motivation, achievement, and emotion regulation; and classroom immersion. We examined the mediating role of emotion regulation in the association between teacher–student relationships and class flow in physical education, which had received scant research attention. Participants comprised a convenience sample of 374 students from four middle schools (50.3% girls and 49.7% boys). They completed existing reliable and valid scales measuring perceived teacher–student relationships, emotion regulation, and class flow. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s product-moment correlations. We also tested the goodness-of-fit of the model and used bootstrapping to verify the effects of emotion regulation as the mediating variable. Results revealed significant correlations between all subfactors of the teacher–student relationship, emotion regulation, and class flow scales. The devised model satisfied the goodness-of-fit criteria (χ2 = 56.408, df = 17, CFI = .978, TLI = .965, RMSEA = .073, SRMR = .0328). The direct effects of teacher–student relationship on emotion regulation, teacher–student relationship on class flow, and emotion regulation on class flow were all significant. Emotion regulation played a partial mediating role in the association between teacher–student relationship and class flow. In physical education, teachers’ relationships with students are key to classroom management, and teachers must build and develop emotional rapport with students to promote students’ focus and immersion and enhance class flow.