Emotional Competence in Primary School Children: Examining the Effect of a Psycho-Educational Group Intervention: A Pilot Prospective Study

Sabina La Grutta, Maria Stella Epifanio, Marco Andrea Piombo, Pietro Alfano, Agata Maltese, Salvatore Marcantonio, Sonia Ingoglia, Marianna Alesi, Rosa Lo Baido, Giacomo Mancini and Federica Andrei
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Sabina La Grutta: Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Maria Stella Epifanio: Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Marco Andrea Piombo: Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Pietro Alfano: Institute of Traslational Pharmacology (IFT), National Research Council of Italy, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Agata Maltese: Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Salvatore Marcantonio: Quality, Planning and Strategic Support Area, University of Palermo, Piazza Marina 61, 90133 Palermo, Italy
Sonia Ingoglia: Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Marianna Alesi: Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Rosa Lo Baido: Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (Bi.N.D.), University of Palermo, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Giacomo Mancini: Department of Education Studies “Giovanni Maria Bertin”, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Federica Andrei: Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: Emotional competence (EC) is a key component of children’s psychological, cognitive, and social development, and it is a central element of learning. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a psycho-educational group intervention aimed at improving children’s emotional competence (EC), quality of integration and scholastic skills. A total of 229 children (123 females; M Age = 7.22 years; SD = 0.97 years) completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA), the Drawn Stories Technique, the Classroom Drawing, and the Colored Progressive Matrices. The total sample was randomly divided into an intervention group (N = 116) who took part in psycho-educational activities and a control (no-intervention) group (N = 84). Both groups were tested at baseline, before the intervention started, and at the end of the intervention (4 months from baseline). Results from mixed-model ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for POFA score over time (F = 6.24, p = 0.01) and an interaction effect between POFA and group (F = 4.82, p = 0.03). No significant main effect was found for classroom drawing over time (F = 0.81, p > 0.05) or for quality of integration and group intervention. These findings support the importance of developing psycho-educational programmes in school for promotion of emotional health for preventing not only the onset of problematic behaviours at school such as bullying but also the development of clinical conditions linked to difficulties in emotional recognition, expression, and regulation such as alexithymia.

Keywords: emotional competence; emotional development; emotional skills psycho-educational intervention; primary school children; group intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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