Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a phenomenon often encountered among professionals and students who make public appearances. This article presents the results of a study carried out on a sample of music students in superior music conservatories in Spain ( N = 434). Our goal was to analyze MPA on the basis of Barlow’s (2000) anxiety theory, supplementing it with further personality constructs such as dispositional optimism, general auto-efficacy, and sensitivity to reward and punishment. Our structural equation modeling (SEM) results reveal that several of those constructs exert their effect via the helplessness factor – the central construct in Barlow’s theory – and that they likewise exert a further series of direct effects on MPA. All in all, the variables taken into consideration account for 45.6% of variance in MPA in males and of 52.1% thereof in females. This study thus upholds Barlow’s theory of anxiety, while broadening it with further explanatory mechanisms.

Emotional intelligence (EI) and mindfulness are two constructs that have been separately studied, and the relation between them still remains unclear. Research in this area has not attempted to go further into how enhancing EI and mindfulness together can achieve better improvements in this ability to attend mindfully. To bridge this knowledge gap, our research goal was to study the relationship between EI and the mindfulness competence in our study sample and to assess the impact of implementing EI and a mindfulness competence developmental program (SEA) about participants’ mindfulness competence. The sample consisted of 156 students aged 11–14 years old from a Spanish public high school. One hundred and eight participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition, and the remaining 48 were to the control condition. The instruments used to evaluate EI were the CDE-SEC, EQi-Youth Version and the General Empathy Scale. Mindfulness on the School Scope Scale was used to assess mindfulness competences. Social adaptation was evaluated by using the social abilities and adjustment questionnaire BAS3. All the instruments where answered by the participants and have been adapted to a sample of youths with such age specifications. The results showed that EI and mindfulness were related to many of the variables measured by the instruments. Showing a good mindfulness competence was particularly related to having a good general level of the EI trait, and to many of the assessed social and emotional variables. The data indicated a significant relation between the mindfulness competence and having better general empathy skills or being better socially adjusted to the school context. The data also indicated a significant effect on participants’ interior and kinesthetic mindfulness competence after implementing the SEA Program. These findings corroborate the relationship between EI and mindfulness, and the possibility of enhancing mindfulness by applying a direct intervention program in the classroom.

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Introducción. En este trabajo se presenta la evaluación del impacto de un programa de desarrollo de las competencias emo-cionales en la base del modelo teórico SEA (atención y comprensión emocional, regulación y reparación emocional y expresión social adaptativa de las emociones) sobre tales competencias en jóvenes adolescentes y pre-adolescentes.Método. El programa se implementó en un IES público durante un curso escolar por parte de los propios profesores-tutores de los alumnos. Los participantes de este estudio son 156 alumnos de 11 a 14 años estudiantes de 1º de E.S.O. en sus di-ferentes condiciones experimentales y control. Se ha utilizado un diseño cuasiexperimental pretest-postest con grupo control para evaluar la eficacia del programa. Las pruebas usadas para ello miden las competencias socioemocionales, la empatía y el ajuste social de los participantes. Además, se hace una medida de seguimiento 3 meses después de la finalización de la implementación del programa.Resultados. La investigación demuestra una mejora significativa en las competencias socioemocionales de los participantes del programa, especialmente en las competencias más relacionadas con la expresión social adaptativa de las emociones. Además, se descubren mejoras también significativas en empatía y ajuste social.Discusión y conclusiones. Se corrobora la posibilidad de potenciar las competencias socioemocionales mediante la aplicación de un programa de intervención directa en el aula durante un curso escolar y el programa SEA se convierte en candidato para alcanzar este objetivo.

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the impact that the Master-level course in Socioemotional Learning for Personal and Social Development (hereinafter MAESE) has had on socioemotional skills, positive psychology (dispositional optimism and satisfaction with life), the level of communicative and teamwork skills developed through coaching, and the capacity for entrepreneurship and innovation in the students of four consecutive graduating classes. This Master-level course has been taught at the University of Zaragoza in a blended-instruction form since 2014 and is currently in its sixth year. The methodology used here is eminently quantitative through an ex post facto descriptive study, although in the coaching and entrepreneurship block, qualitative information is also collected through open-ended questions. The results show that after completing the MAESE, there are few significant improvements in socioemotional skills (MSCEIT). On the other hand, there are significant improvements in the participants’ dispositional optimism (Life Orientation Test), satisfaction with life (SWLS), skill development through coaching, and ability to undertake projects and to innovate (PTWS). We conclude by reinforcing the importance of and responsibility to evaluate the impact that university training has on its students, especially for degrees covering emotion-related content.