A longitudinal analysis of the relationships between students’ internalized symptoms and achievement goals.

Previous research revealed that internalized symptoms of depression and anxiety are associated with adolescents’ academic motivation. However, a gap remains regarding the longitudinal relationships between students internalized symptoms and their motivational functioning. Using achievement goals to conceptualize motivational functioning, this study examined the longitudinal relationships between adolescents’ trajectories of achievement goals and their symptoms of depression and anxiety over a 6-year period. The sample included 762 students (55% girls) who completed an annual survey across adolescence (Mage at Time 1 = 11.80 years, SD = 0.44). Growth curve analyses with time-varying covariates revealed that an increase in students’ depression symptoms predicted a decrease in their mastery goals, while an increase in their anxiety symptoms predicted an increase in their performance-approach and avoidance goals. Results were robust when controlling for students’ gender, perceived classroom goal structures, and age. These findings corroborate, from a longitudinal perspective, theoretical frameworks that linked student motivation and emotions, and emphasize the importance of considering trajectories of adolescent symptoms of depression and anxiety in understanding their motivational development across adolescence.