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

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.

Drawing techniques as tools for the evaluation of scholastic integration and emotional components in primary and secondary school: A cross-sectional study

“…In the last decades, many studies have shown the fundamental role of emotions on psycho-educational processes during childhood and how good emotion management can be a pathway to better social competence in future ( La Grutta et al, 2022 ). Particularly, current evidence shows that children may be able to express emotions through drawings even if they are unable to communicate or express them verbally ( Fury et al, 1997 ; Malchiodi, 1998 ; Kim and Suh, 2013 ; Pace et al, 2013 ; Goldner et al, 2015 ).…”

“…In particular, social–emotional competence could be considered a critical factor to target with universal preventive interventions that are conducted in schools because the construct associates with social, behavioral, and academic outcomes that are important for healthy development; predicts important life outcomes in adulthood; can be improved with feasible and cost-effective interventions; and plays a critical role in the behavior change process ( Domitrovich et al, 2017 ; La Grutta et al, 2022 ).…”

“…cost-effective interventions; and plays a critical role in the behavior change process(Domitrovich et al, 2017;La Grutta et al, 2022).…”

Psychoeducation Reduces Alexithymia and Modulates Anger Expression in a School Setting

“…They found that at the post-intervention assessment, students showed a decreased score on violence and alexithymia scales. Similarly, in 2022 La Grutta et al [ 9 ] conducted a psychoeducational program among 229 students aimed to increase children’s emotional competence and scholastic skills. They found that students reported positive changes in emotional recognition after the intervention with better levels of emotional health and psychological well-being and a possible future positive impact on cooperative skills and greater school success.…”

“…Increasing evidence supports the effectiveness of youth programs in reducing alexithymia, improving the ability to recognize and express emotions [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”