Research Information System
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, vol.17, pp.1-12, 2026 (SSCI)
Introduction:
While Open and Distance Learning (ODL) expands access, the extent to which assessment modality is associated with psychological barriers for learners with disabilities remains underexplored. Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4)—ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all—this study contributes evidence on whether assessment design in open and distance systems supports or hinders equitable participation by learners with disabilities. Situated in debates on inclusive and equitable higher education, this study tests a self-regulation account in which test anxiety (TA) predicts academic procrastination (AP), which in turn predicts Grade Point Average (GPA), and examines whether exam environment (EE) moderates these psychological pathways differently for students with and without formally recognized disabilities.
Methods:
Data were collected via an online questionnaire from 667 undergraduates (118 learners with formally recognized disabilities) in a large-scale distance education system; GPA was obtained from institutional records. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and conditional process (moderated mediation) analyses were employed to test the hypothesized model.
Results:
AP mediates the negative association between TA and GPA for both disabled and non-disabled learners. For learners with disabilities, EE moderated the procrastination–GPA association: the negative association was stronger in face-to-face settings and weaker in online settings.
Discussion:
Given the cross-sectional design and self-selection into exam mode, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects. Nonetheless, they suggest that carefully designed online assessment may function as an EE that helps reduce environmental frictions that can exacerbate the anxiety–procrastination cycle for some disabled learners, with implications for assessment practice (as a contextual factor) and accessibility and fairness (as contextual concerns) in open and distance higher education.