Social-Emotional Competence: Theories, Correlates, and Measures

Dear Colleagues,

Social-emotional learning is crucial for children’s development and their success in transitioning into adulthood. This Special Issue calls for papers from scholars that examine and consider the theories, correlates, and measures of social-emotional competence across developmental periods, from early childhood to emerging adulthood. We encourage a wide range of submissions (e.g., theoretical, empirical) on this topic, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and empirical studies involving implementation science or correlational data, measurement (e.g., scale development and validation). Submissions might focus on or relate to the recommended topics under the Keywords section. However, the list is by no means exhaustive. In addition to making significant theoretical contributions, we hope this Special Issue can provide helpful strategies for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rebecca Y. M. Cheung
Dr. Sum Kwing Cheung
Guest Editors

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• family process
• parenting
• parent–child relationships
• social–emotional competence
• social–emotional learning
• mental health
• emotion regulation
• mindfulness

Title: Social-emotional competence for children with identified developmental concerns: The impact of parenting and executive function
Authors: Courtney Boise; Lisa L. Knoche
Affiliation: University of North Carolina University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Abstract: Social-emotional competence and executive function at preschool are critical for children’s school readiness and long-term success in relationships and academic achievement. Unfortunately, young children with the dual risk of low-income status and identified developmental concerns are more likely to have lower social-emotional learning. This study examines (a) bidirectional associations between parenting, executive function, and social-emotional competence; and (b) executive function as an explanatory mechanism for the predictive relation between specific parenting behaviors and children’s social-emotional competence. Data came from 267 parents and children with identified developmental concerns attending publicly funded center-based preschools. Children’s executive function was assessed by teacher-report, while parenting behaviors and children’s social-emotional competence were observationally assessed. Executive function and children’s social-emotional competence were bidirectionally related across the first year of preschool. Cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that executive function was not an explanatory mechanism for the relation between parenting behaviors and children’s social-emotional competence. However, higher levels of conflict displayed by parents in the fall of the first year of preschool predicted more conflict during the spring of the same year. Higher levels of conflict in the spring then predicted poorer executive function and social-emotional competence during the spring of the child’s second year of preschool.

Title: Mothers’ Consideration of Future Consequences, Authoritarian Parenting Practices and Young Children’s Social-emotional Behaviors
Authors: Sum Kwing Cheung; Lai Kuen Suki Yung; Bertha H. C. Kum; Jian-Bin Li; Rebecca Y. M. Cheung
Affiliation: Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Abstract: The degree to which individuals consider future outcomes of current actions has been found to affect their behavioral choices. Nonetheless, there is currently limited understanding in the literature about how parents’ consideration of future consequences contributes to their parenting and the development of their children. This study therefore investigated whether mothers’ consideration of future consequences was associated with their young children’s social-emotional behaviors through authoritarian parenting practices. A total of 218 mothers were recruited from ten kindergartens in Hong Kong to complete a questionnaire about themselves, their home practices, and their young children. Results of path analysis revealed that mothers’ consideration of future consequences was negatively associated with children’s internalizing problems through mothers’ verbal hostility. Meanwhile, mothers’ consideration of future consequences had a direct negative link with children’s externalizing problems, as well as indirect links via mothers’ physical coercion and verbal hostility. Last but not least, mothers’ consideration of future consequences was positively associated with children’s prosocial behavior through lower use of non-reasoning, punitive strategies. These findings imply that it is of imperative importance to help parents think deeply about the potential long-term negative consequences of ineffective parenting practices and recognize their vital role in children’s early social-emotional development.

Title: Behavioral Inhibition and Social Competence through the Eyes of Parent and Teacher Informants
Authors: Hailey Fleece; Hedwig Teglasi
Affiliation: University of Maryland, College Park
Abstract: The centrality of social competence to children’s well-being has sparked interest in documenting its correlates and precursors. Behavioral Inhibition (BI) is studied extensively as an early appearing, biologically based, temperamental disposition that places children at increased risk for maladaptive social functioning. Children with BI are characterized by the tendency to react to unfamiliarity or uncertainty with fear and to respond with avoidance or withdrawal, eventuating in missed opportunities to gain social competence (SC). Early interventions that aim to interrupt this negative cycle often rely on parents or teachers to observe BI, but they often disagree in their ratings, raising understudied, but basic questions about how to translate the research findings into effective interventions. In this study, parents and teachers rated kindergarteners’ (N=176) disposition toward fear and shyness, underpinnings of BI, and SC. As expected, we found modest overlap in the classification of children into relatively High, Average, and Low BI groups based on parent and teacher ratings. Whereas about 40 percent were classified similarly, about 33 percent were discrepant in their classification by more than one category. Yet, the High BI group was at a social disadvantage (lower SC) compared to the Low BI group, even when the comparison groups only included children whose classification was discrepant. In line with the Realistic Accuracy Model of person perception, we describe a context/informant specific conceptualization the BI-SC connection with implications for intervention.