The role of social and emotional skills on adolescents’ life satisfaction and academic performance
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in 2019, has had a significant impact on the mental health of adolescents, leading to symptoms such as anxiety and depression, and a decrease in their overall life satisfaction. In the educational context, social and emotional competencies have gained increasing importance due to their potential to enhance various aspects of academic, personal, and professional life. This study aimed to assess the socioemotional competencies of 1,270 secondary school students and explore their connection with life satisfaction and academic achievement. For this purpose, the Social and Emotional Learning Scale, the Spanish adaptation of the Life Satisfaction Scale, and an ad-hoc questionnaire that collected the sociodemographic variables of gender, age, and academic performance, were administered. The Mann-Whitney U test for two independent samples, the Kruskal-Wallis H test for independent samples, and the Spearman’s correlation analysis were conducted to examine the relationships between the variables. In summary, the study revealed statistically significant differences social and emotional competencies based on gender, but there were no discernible differences based on age. Furthermore, the results indicated a positive relationship between life satisfaction, social and emotional competencies, and academic performance. The findings of this study hold significant importance as they contribute to our understanding of the factors impacting the well-being of adolescents. Hence, in the current post-pandemic era, there is an even greater urgency to design and implement high-quality interventions centered around social and emotional learning in education, particularly from an early age.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal retains the economic copyright of contributions that are accepted for publication. This means that it acquires the exclusive use of the document to be edited, disseminated, preserved, etc. in any support and for the time stipulated by the local legislation that regulates the performance of the publication.
Psychology, Society & Education is published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
References
Aguilar, P., López-Cobo, I., Cuadrado, F., & Benítez, I. (2019). Social and emotional competences in Spain: A comparative evaluation between Spanish needs and an international framework based on the experiences of researchers, teachers, and policymakers. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2127. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02127 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02127
Álvarez, K., Denegri, M. P., & Valdés, C. (2017). 6.56 Gender differences and life satisfaction in vulnerable adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(10), Article S296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.09.401 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.09.401
Ato, M., López, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013). Un sistema de clasificación de los diseños de investigación en Psicología. Anales de Psicología, 29(3), 1038-1059. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.29.3.178511 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.29.3.178511
Balayar, B. B., & Langlais, M. R. (2022). Parental support, learning performance, and socioemotional development of children and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Family Journal, 30(2), 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807211052496 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807211052496
Branje, S., & Morris, A. S. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent emotional, social, and academic adjustment. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(3), 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12668 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12668
Branquinho, C., Moraes, B., Noronha, C., Ferreira, T., Neto Rodrigues, N., & Gaspar de Matos, M. (2023). Perceived quality of life and life satisfaction: Does the role of gender, age, skills, and psychological factors remain relevant after the COVID-19 pandemic? Children, 10(9), Article 1460. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children10091460 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/children10091460
Capella-Peris, C., Martí-Puig, M., Salvador-García, C., & Maravé-Vivas, M. (2021). Social, personal, and innovative competencies effect of service-learning in physical education teacher education: A mixed-methods analysis. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 757483. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.757483 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.757483
Chernyshenko, O. S., Kankara, M., & Drasgow, F. (2018). Social and emotional skills for student success and well-being: Conceptual framework for the OECD study on social and emotional skills. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/db1d8e59-en DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/db1d8e59-en
Clarke, A., Sorgenfrei, M., Mulcahy, J., Davie, P., Friedrich, C., Mcbride, T., Fazel, M., Scott, S., Collishaw, S., Humphrey, N., Newsome, C., Waddell, S., & Freeman, G. (2021). Adolescent mental health. A systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions. Early Intervention Fundation.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2021). 2011 to 2021: 10 years of social and emotional learning in U.S. school districts. https://casel.org/cdi-ten-year-report/
Corcoran, R. P., Cheung, A. C. K., Kim, E., & Xie, C. (2018). Effective universal school-based social and emotional learning programs for improving academic achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Educational Research Review, 25, 56-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EDUREV.2017.12.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.12.001
Credé, J., Wirthwein, L., McElvany, N., & Steinmayr, R. (2015). Adolescents’ academic achievement and life satisfaction: The role of parents’ education. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 52. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00052 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00052
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
Etikan, I. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
Fernández-Martín, F. D., Moreno-Guerrero, A.-J., Marín-Marín, J.-A., & Romero-Rodríguez, J.-M. (2022). Adolescents’ emotions in Spanish education: Development and validation of the Social and Emotional Learning Scale. Sustainability, 14(7), Article 3755. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU14073755 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073755
García-Martínez, I., Gavín-Chocano, O., Molero, D., & León, S. P. (2023). Analysing university students’ life satisfaction through their socioemotional factors. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 41(1), 107-124. https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.496341 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.496341
Gao, J., Zheng, P., Jia, Y., Chen, H., Mao, Y., Chen, S., Wang, Y., Fu, H., & Dia, J. (2020). Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS ONE, 15(4), Article e0231924. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231924 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231924
Hollenstein, T., & Lougheed, J. P. (2013). Beyond storm and stress: Typicality, transactions, timing, and temperament to account for adolescent change. American Psychologist, 68(6), 444-454. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033586 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033586
Hossain, M. M., Tasnim, S., Sultana, A., Faizah, F., Mazumder, H., Zou, L., McKyer, E. L. J., Ahmed, H. U., & Ma, P. (2020). Epidemiology of mental health problems in COVID-19: A review. F1000Research, 9, Article 636. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.24457.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.24457.1
Lee, J., & Junus, A. (2023). Differences and similarities in youth social-emotional competence measurement between North American and East Asian countries: Exploratory graph analysis using the OECD survey on social and emotional skills data. Child Indicators Research, 17, 57-79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10074-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10074-6
López-Cassá, E. Pérez-Escoda, N., & Alegre, A. (2018). Competencia emocional, satisfacción en contextos específicos y satisfacción con la vida en la adolescencia. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 36(1), 57-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/rie.36.1.273131 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.36.1.273131
Ng, Z. J., E. Huebner, S., & J. Hills, K. (2015). Life satisfaction and academic performance in early adolescents: Evidence for reciprocal association. Journal of School Psychology, 53(6), 479-491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.09.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.09.004
Núñez, J. L., Martín-Albo, J., & Domínguez, E. (2010). Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in physically active subjects. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 19(2), 291-304.
Mira-Galvañ, M. J., & Gilar-Corbi, R. (2020). Design, implementation and evaluation of an emotional education program: Effects on academic performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 1100. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2020.01100 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01100
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2021). Beyond academic learning: First results from the Survey of Social and emotional skills. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/92a11084-en DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/92a11084-en
Portela-Pino, I., Alvariñas-Villaverde, M., & Pino-Juste, M. (2021). Socio-emotional skills in adolescence. Influence of personal and extracurricular variables. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), Article 4811. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094811 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094811
Resurrección, D. M., Jiménez, Ó., Menor, E., & Ruiz-Aranda, D. (2021). The learning to be project: An intervention for Spanish students in primary education. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 632617. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.632617 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.632617
Salavera, C., Usán, P., & Teruel, P. (2019). Contextual problems, emotional intelligence and social skills in Secondary Education students. Gender differences. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, Revue Psychiatrique, 177(3), 223-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2018.07.008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2018.07.008
Singh, S., Roy, D., Sinha, K., Parveen, S., Sharma, G., & Joshi, G. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: A narrative review with recommendations. Psychiatry Research, 293, Article 113429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113429 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113429
Shin, D. C., & Johnson, D. M. (1978). Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 5, 475-492. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00352944 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00352944
Smith, E. P., Petersen, A. C., Leman, P., Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156-1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/CDEV.12864 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864
Soper, D. S. (2022). A-priori sample size calculator for regression. [Software] https://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc/calculator.aspx?id=1
Theberath, M., Bauer, D., Chen, W., Salinas, M., Mohabbat, A. B., Yang, Y., Chon, T. Y., Bauer, B. A., & Wahner-Roedler, D. (2022). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of children and adolescents: A systematic review of survey studies. SAGE Open Medicine, 10, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121221086712 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121221086712
Torales, J., O’Higgins, M., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., & Ventriglio, A. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(4), 317-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020915212 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020915212
Turan, M. E. (2021). The relationship between social emotional learning competencies and life satisfaction in adolescents: Mediating role of academic resilience. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 13(4), 1126-1142. https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2021.04.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2021.04.012
United Nations. (2020). Policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on children. https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-impact-covid-19-children
World Health Organization. (2006). Orientation programme on adolescent health for health-care providers. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241591269
Zhou, M., & Ee, J. (2012). Development and validation of the Social Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ). International Journal of Emotional Education, 4(2), 27-42. https://doi.org/10.1037/t69172-000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/t69172-000
Zych, I., Ortega-Ruiz, R., Muñoz-Morales, R., Llorent, V. J., & De Córdoba, U. (2018). Dimensions and psychometric properties of the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire (SEC-Q) in youth and adolescents. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 50(2), 98-106. https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2018.v50.n2.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2018.v50.n2.3