Journal Article

Social-Emotional Competence: An Essential Factor for Promoting Positive Adjustment and Reducing Risk in School Children

Durlak, Joseph A., Domitrovich, Celene E., Staley, Katharine C., Weissberg, Roger P.

2017

Overview

Social-emotional competence is a critical factor to target with universal preventive interventions that are conducted in schools because the construct (a) associates with social, behavioral, and academic outcomes that are important for healthy development; (b) predicts important life outcomes in adulthood; (c) can be improved with feasible and cost-effective interventions; and (d) plays a critical role in the behavior change process. This article reviews this research and what is known about effective intervention approaches. Based on that, an intervention model is proposed for how schools should enhance the social and emotional learning of students in order to promote resilience. Suggestions are also offered for how to support implementation of this intervention model at scale.

• Publisher: Wiley for the Society for Research in Child Development,Wiley-Blackwell,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Adults / At risk / At risk populations / At risk youth / Behavior Change / Behavior modification / Behavioral psychology / Child / Child Development / Child psychology / Children / Competence / Correlation / Cost analysis / Cost Effectiveness / Educational Environment / Elementary School Students / Emotional Adjustment / Emotional Development / Emotional intelligence / Emotions / Evidence based research / Humans / Intervention / Learning / Outcomes of Education / Prevention / Resilience / Resilience (Psychology) / Resilience, Psychological / Risk / Role / Schools / Screening Tests / Social Adjustment / Social Development / Social discrimination learning / Social factors / Social Skills / SPECIAL SECTION: DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE: EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR AT-RISK YOUTH AND FAMILIES / Student Adjustment / Youth