Supporting social emotional learning and wellbeing of displaced adolescents from the middle east: a pilot evaluation of the 'forward with peers' intervention.

BACKGROUND: A growing literature points to the critical role schools can play in promoting improved psychosocial wellbeing and resilience among first- and second-generation Arab immigrant and refugee adolescents, but few evaluations have examined the effectiveness of culturally adapted, school-based interventions. METHODS: We conducted a pilot evaluation of a culturally adapted social and emotional learning and life skills program, Forward with Peers (FwP), and examined its potential effectiveness for this population. FwP was evaluated across three high schools in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Within each school, one Arabic class was randomly assigned to receive FwP programming and another served as a control. The pilot evaluation sought to examine changes in several mental health and psychosocial outcomes of interest. FINDINGS: Improvements in overall perceived social support (P = 0.045) and perceived social support from someone special in one's life (0.042) were statistically significant in the treatment as compared to the control group. Comparative improvements were also marginally significant for resilience (P = 0.095) and perceived social support from family (P = 0.074). CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the potential of FwP and support the growing interest in establishing efficacy of school-based, culturally appropriate SEL programming to improve psychosocial wellbeing among Arab refugee and immigrant adolescents. FwP's demonstrated improvements in resilience and social support have the potential to prevent mental health disorders and bolster coping mechanisms to minimize adverse consequences in this vulnerable population. Employing a strengths-based approach, FwP offers an alternative intervention to traditional treatment-oriented supports for the proliferation of mental health disorders within this vulnerable population.

Promoting 21st Century Health and Wellness Skills in Elementary School Children: a Group Randomized Trial.

In a group randomized trial of 45 elementary schools, a whole-child health and wellness curriculum introduced as a regular part of the educational programming was compared to education as usual over 2 years with a 2-year follow-up. The curriculum focused on integrating multiple SEL skills-mindfulness, compassion, and physical awareness-with the intent to advantage developmental patterns for these skills, academic engagement, personal well-being, and student behavior. The program design and trial implementation were launched with end-use delivery and long-term sustainability as integral considerations. Effects were shown for several SEL skills and behavioral indicators previously robustly correlated to long-term outcomes. Effects were demonstrated more broadly in schools serving high-poverty communities, suggesting the impact was stronger where the need was greater. Results are interpreted regarding supporting school-based SEL, the potential of applying group randomized trials with end-use conditions of implementation, and the value of fitting innovation efforts to school system operations, mandates, and priorities for promoting sustainability.

Universal School-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for Diverse Student Subgroups: Implications for Enhancing Equity Through SEL.

School-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) has been widely practiced and promoted as a promising approach to prevent youth mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Although prior research has accumulated robust evidence of the average effects of universal SEL, it remains unclear whether it works similarly or differentially across diverse sociocultural subgroups of students. Investigating subgroup effects has implications for understanding the impact of universal SEL on possible subgroup disparities in student social-emotional competence (SEC). This study examined whether the effects of a universal SEL program on student SEC development differed across diverse student subgroups classified by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and English learner status. Data came from student SEC progress monitoring collected during a 1-year quasi-experimental study of a universal SEL program (N = 1592; Grades K-2). The results of multigroup latent growth modeling suggest that (a) the intervention effects were slightly larger for Black students, compared to White or other racial-ethnic subgroups, and (b) the effects were not different across other examined subgroups. This study also found that in the comparison condition, the SEC disparities between Black and White students tended to widen throughout the year, whereas in the intervention condition, Black students showed a similar rate of growth as their White peers. Findings suggest that universal SEL may be similarly beneficial across many diverse student subgroups, while it may yield larger benefits among some racially marginalized subgroups, preventing racial disparities from further widening. Yet the benefits of SEL may not be sufficient to reduce existing subgroup disparities. These findings suggest a need for more studies to examine differential effects of universal preventive programs by diverse subgroups to better inform practices that enhance equity in youth outcomes.

Can an Universal School-Based Social Emotional Learning Program Reduce Adolescents' Social Withdrawal and Social Anxiety?

There is a lack of studies analyzing if universal school-based Social and Emotional Learning programs can reduce social withdrawal and social anxiety. This study analyzed the effectiveness of one such program on those variables, and the role of individual school climate perceptions. In this nationwide study, 704 seventh to eighth-grade Portuguese students (Mage = 12.96, SD = 1.09, 48% girls), of which 215 (30.6%) in the comparison group, were assessed at pretest, post-test, and follow-up seven months later. Analyses showed positive intervention results in self- and teacher-reported social withdrawal and social anxiety. Regarding school climate, intervention group students with more positive teacher-student relationships benefitted more from program participation in social anxiety. These results support the program's effectiveness for addressing social withdrawal and social anxiety.

Experimental evaluation of a neurophysiological intervention designed to increase student resilience: a pilot study.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions have shown promise for building resilience and protecting youth from adverse outcomes. This study reports on an experimental pilot evaluation of the Smart Brain Wise Heart SEL intervention during the 2021-2022 school year. Smart Brain Wise Heart (SBWH) uses a neurophysiological approach among ninth-grade students to evaluate the intervention's impact on youth resiliency, self-compassion, peer violence exposure, internalising disorders, and hyperactivity. Results did not indicate any significant universal changes in target outcomes. These null findings regarding universal impact may be explained by the unprecedented difficulty of implementing a school-based intervention amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and administrative issues. Despite these obstacles, students with lower academic achievement in the intervention condition scored significantly higher for resilience and self-compassion and lower on depressive symptoms than their peers in the comparison condition, even when controlling for baseline scores, sex, attachment (father, mother, peer), and exposure to adverse childhood experiences. Our findings suggest SBWH programming may have important implications for the trajectories of students exhibiting lower academic achievement, at a minimum, by significantly improving their emotional resilience, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms during a vital developmental stage. More research is urgently needed under optimal conditions to assess the universal implementation of the program.

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Middle School: Intervention Effects of Facing History and Ourselves.

There are fewer evidence-based social and emotional learning programs for middle school students compared to younger grades. This randomized controlled trial tests the effectiveness of Facing History and Ourselves (hereafter, Facing History) with a sample of 694 (Facing History n = 437; Comparison n = 257) students from a low-resourced school district. Youth self-identified as female (59%), Black/African American (61%), Hispanic/Latinx (18%), White (2%), and multi-racial or some other race/ethnicity (19%). Intervention students perceived their classrooms as more caring and democratic than students in the comparison group. They reported higher levels of empathy, prosocial behavior, and stronger participatory citizenship beliefs. This study expands the evidence-based of effective SEL programs available to schools.

Commentary: Vulnerable children-A global perspective.

In this commentary, we discuss the global similarities in the intersections of poverty, disability, and learning, and share lessons that are being learned internationally that can inform U.S. domestic research and implementation. These lessons cover multiple aspects of learning and development, instructional materials and approaches, integration of social emotional and school climate considerations, and engagement of families and communities.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Promoting Social and Emotional Development Through Outdoor Learning.

Primary school (i.e., Kindergarten to Grade 3) educators typically support students' social and emotional learning (SEL) through targeted lessons delivered in the classroom; however, integrating SEL strategies into other subject areas both within and outside the classroom context can expand their ability to support students' SEL. Research suggests that outdoor learning (OL) can help promote students' social and emotional development. Thus, this study explored qualitative data generated through focus group interviews with 36 Canadian primary school educators who implemented OL to understand their perspectives on the benefits of OL for primary school students, including whether SEL promotion was perceived as a key benefit. Most of the themes generated through thematic analysis pertained to students' social and emotional development and aligned with SEL competencies defined in a dominant SEL framework. One overarching theme suggested that educators perceived the emergent, unstructured nature of OL as driving the SEL-related benefits. Findings suggest that educators can leverage the OL context to help integrate SEL more deeply into their teaching practice.

"In the shoes of another": immersive technology for social and emotional learning.

There has been increasing use of interactive technologies in the classroom today and a rising popularity of employing virtual environments as a means to engage students in sensorially rich contexts for more embodied forms of experiential learning. In particular, virtual reality (VR) or immersive virtual environments (IVEs) facilitated by head-mounted displays (HMDs) have been used in the teaching of subject content such as history, geography and science. This article presents the findings of an exploratory study of immersive technology, specifically immersive virtual environments (IVES), for the purpose of social and emotional learning (SEL), in the context of Character and Citizenship lessons in the Singapore classroom. The social and emotional competencies (SECs) examined in this project were specifically empathy and perspective-taking, and responsible decision-making. The study involved a sample of n = 75 students from a cohort of students in a Singapore school, averaged at 15 years of age. Students were randomly divided into three treatment conditions: IVEs, pen-and-paper mental simulation and video-viewing. Each treatment contained a problem scenario, told from a first-person perspective, involving a social and ethical dilemma young people today face. A quasi-experimental, pre-test post-test, non-equivalent group design was employed, and the study adopted a mixed-method approach to data collection. The findings reveal that IVEs are not necessarily more effective than the "pen-and-paper" and video viewing approaches to teaching SECs but they can better facilitate perspective-taking and empathy for a higher percentage of students.

Evaluation of the SPARK Child Mentoring Program: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum for Elementary School Students.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs seek to enhance social and emotional competencies in children, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. By means of direct instruction regarding social and emotional competencies, SEL programs have the potential to strengthen resilience in children and thus their capacity to effectively cope with life's challenges. Strengthening resilience in children who are repeatedly exposed to adverse experiences, particularly those from economically disadvantaged minority backgrounds, is of particular importance and has implications for the prevention of a multitude of problems later in life. Our study reports the result of an investigation of the SPARK Child Mentoring program, a resilience-focused SEL program designed to reduce risk factors, uncover innate resilience, promote natural emotional well-being, and facilitate school success. We employed a randomized controlled trial comprising 94 elementary school students that included pre- and post-intervention measurements. After controlling for pre-intervention levels, we found a significant difference between students' understanding of underlying program principles; communication, decision making, and problem-solving skills; emotional regulation; and resilience for students who received the intervention compared to students who did not receive the intervention. These results provide initial evidence for the efficacy of the SPARK Child Mentoring program with a diverse sample of elementary school students and adds to the existing literature base concerning positive outcomes associated with SEL programs. We discuss implications for future research focused on long-term preventive effects of the program and the characteristics of students most likely to benefit from it.

SDG 4 and the COVID-19 emergency: Textbooks, tutoring, and teachers.

COVID-19 once again revealed the inherent weaknesses in relying on classroom-based schooling and ICT to sustain learning, a danger already familiar from earlier man-made and natural disasters. A lack of textbooks and lack of guidance for caregivers to support home-based learning limited the effectiveness of efforts to provide continuity of learning. These same elements are the key to preparing better for the next crisis and keeping SDG 4 on track.

A Cluster Randomized-Controlled Trial of the MindOut Social and Emotional Learning Program for Disadvantaged Post-Primary School Students.

School-based social and emotional learning programs aim to provide students with the skills they need to deal with life challenges, thereby enhancing their social and emotional wellbeing, academic outcomes, and reducing their risk of mental health difficulties. While there is a robust evidence base on the effectiveness of these programs originating from the US, there is a relative paucity of research on how these programs impact young people in other county contexts, especially for older adolescents and those at higher risk. This study sets out to address this research gap by evaluating the effectiveness of a social emotional learning program designed for older adolescents in Ireland, the MindOut program. MindOut is a universal school-based social and emotional learning program designed for older adolescents in Ireland which was developed based on a common elements approach underpinned by CASEL's framework. Employing a cluster randomized-controlled trial, data on social and emotional skills, academic performance and mental health outcomes were collected from students (n = 497; 51.1% female) ages 15-18 years in 32 disadvantaged schools. There were significant improvements in intervention students' social and emotional skills including, reduced suppression of emotions (p = 0.035), use of more positive coping strategies [reduced avoidance coping p = < 0.001) and increased social support coping p = 0.044)]. Improvements in mental health and wellbeing were also found with significantly reduced levels of stress (p = 0.017) and depressive symptoms (p = 0.030) as well as reduced anxiety scores for females students (p = 0.044). These short-term evaluation findings support the positive impact of school-based social and emotional learning programs, such as MindOut, when designed to be both age and culturally appropriate and delivered to older adolescents in disadvantaged schools.

Childhood Protective Factors and a Prevention Program Reduce Later Problem Behaviors.

Prior research has yet to elucidate how constellations of protective factors in childhood and prevention efforts simultaneously may influence youth involvement in problem behaviors across different points in development. The current study examines how latent classes of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, parent-child relationships, and peer influences in third grade and receipt of an ongoing SEL intervention predict substance use and violence in fifth and eighth grade. The urban, predominantly low-income, sample (N = 1,169) was nested in 14 schools that were randomly assigned to the Positive Action program or business-as-usual. Membership in a latent class reflecting protective childhood factors predicted less substance use and violence in fifth grade; however, the SEL program predicted less substance use and violence in eighth grade. Findings generally support that SEL interventions can successfully target and boost developmentally appropriate positive behaviors and can prevail over initial risk factors with enough time and exposure.

Classifying Changes to Preventive Interventions: Applying Adaptation Taxonomies.

High-quality implementation is important for preventive intervention effectiveness. Although this implies fidelity to a practice model, some adaptation may be inevitable or even advantageous in routine practice settings. In order to organize the study of adaptation and its effect on intervention outcomes, scholars have proposed various adaptation taxonomies. This paper examines how four published taxonomies retrospectively classify adaptations: the Ecological Validity Framework (EVF; Bernal et al. in J Abnorm Child Psychol 23(1):67-82, 1995), the Hybrid Prevention Program Model (HPPM; Castro et al. in Prev Sci 5(1):41-45, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PREV.0000013980.12412.cd ), the Moore et al. (J Prim Prev 34(3):147-161, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-013-0303-6 ) taxonomy, and the Stirman et al. (Implement Sci 8:65, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-8-65 ) taxonomy. We used these taxonomies to classify teacher-reported adaptations made during the implementation of TOOLBOX™, a social emotional learning program implemented in 11 elementary schools during the 2014-2015 academic year. Post-implementation, 271 teachers and staff responded to an online survey that included questions about adaptation, yielding 98 adaptation descriptions provided by 42 respondents. Four raters used each taxonomy to try to classify these descriptions. We assessed the extent to which raters agreed they could classify the descriptions using each taxonomy (coverage), as well as the extent to which raters agreed on the subcategory they assigned (clarity). Results indicated variance among taxonomies, and tensions between the ideals of coverage and clarity emerged. Further studies of adaptation taxonomies as coding instruments may improve their performance, helping scholars more consistently assess adaptations and their effects on preventive intervention outcomes.

Quality Matters: Implementation Moderates Student Outcomes in the PATHS Curriculum.

Analyses of the relationship between levels of implementation and outcomes of school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions are relatively infrequent and are typically narrowly focused. Thus, our objective was to assess the relationship between variability in a range of implementation dimensions and intervention outcomes in the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. Implementation of PATHS was examined in 69 classrooms across 23 schools in the first year of a major randomized controlled trial. Implementation data were generated via classroom-level structured observations. In addition to factual data on dosage and reach, exploratory factor analysis of observer ratings revealed two distinct implementation dimensions, namely, "quality and participant responsiveness" and "procedural fidelity." Student social-emotional skills, pro-social behavior, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing problems were captured through child self-report and teacher informant-report surveys (N = 1721). Hierarchical linear modeling of study data revealed that higher implementation quality and participant responsiveness was associated with significantly lower ratings of students' externalizing problems at 12-month follow-up. Conversely, and contrary to expectations, higher dosage was associated with significantly lower pro-social behavior and social-emotional skills at 12-month follow-up. No significant associations were found between variability in either procedural fidelity or reach and any intervention outcomes. The implications of these findings are discussed, and study limitations are noted.

Differential Effectiveness of a Middle School Social and Emotional Learning Program: Does Setting Matter?

There is a lack of studies in the literature addressing the differential effectiveness of Social and Emotional Learning according to their implementation setting. This study compared the effectiveness of an upper middle school Social and Emotional Learning program applied in two different settings: within school and after-school hours, while controlling for individual and class-level variables. There were 837 students (Mage = 12.70; SD = 0.98; 47.6% were female): 246 in the control group, 319 in the after-school intervention group and 272 in the within school schedule intervention group, assessed at pretest, post-test and follow-up seven months later. Multilevel analyses identified more positive intervention results in on self-esteem, self-control, and social awareness for students in the within school schedule groups. Girls gained more in social awareness in both program settings. This study highlights the importance of analyzing Social and Emotional Learning program´s differential effectiveness in order to optimize it.

Are All Program Elements Created Equal? Relations Between Specific Social and Emotional Learning Components and Teacher-Student Classroom Interaction Quality.

School-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are presented to educators with little understanding of the program components that have the greatest leverage for improving targeted outcomes. Conducted in the context of a randomized controlled trial, the present study used variation in treatment teachers' (N = 143) implementation of four core components of the Responsive Classroom approach to examine relations between each component and the quality of teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions in third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms (controlling for pre-intervention interaction quality and other covariates). We also examined the extent to which these relations varied as a function of teachers' baseline levels of interaction quality. Indices of teachers' implementation of Morning Meeting, Rule Creation, Interactive Modeling, and Academic Choice were derived from a combination of teacher-reported surveys and classroom observations. Ratings of teacher-student classroom interactions were aggregated across five observations conducted throughout the school year. Structural path models indicated that teachers' use of Morning Meeting and Academic Choice related to higher levels of emotionally supportive interactions; Academic Choice also related to higher levels of instructional interactions. In addition, teachers' baseline interaction quality moderated several associations such that the strongest relations between RC component use and interaction quality emerged for teachers with the lowest baseline interaction quality. Results highlight the value of examining individual program components toward the identification of program active ingredients that can inform intervention optimization and teacher professional development.

Can Universal SEL Programs Benefit Universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on Multiple Trajectories of Social-Emotional and Misconduct Behaviors.

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the Positive Action (PA) program on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as "high/declining" and "low/stable". Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected "low/rising" and "high/rising" trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes.

Comparing Two Low Middle School Social and Emotional Learning Program Formats: A Multilevel Effectiveness Study.

Understanding which factors are relevant for the effectiveness of social and emotional learning programs is of key importance in designing interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of a universal, school-based, social and emotional learning program for low middle school students (5th and 6th grades) and compared two program delivery formats for the intervention: curriculum (a semi-structured format) and pre-package (fixed structure).The program also analyzed differential gender effects. There were 982 participants (M age  = 11.22; SD = 1.02, 46.8 % girls): 318 in the control condition, 355 students in the intervention delivered with a curriculum format and 309 in the intervention delivered in a pre-package format, assessed at pretest, posttest and follow-up eight months later. Multilevel analyses identified positive intervention results in social awareness, self-control, self-esteem, social isolation and social anxiety. The pre-packaged format led to better results in self-esteem and social isolation. Boys gained more in social awareness in both program delivery formats. These findings support the program's effectiveness and the importance of designing the intervention to match program delivery formats with developmental needs.

The Effectiveness of a Portuguese Elementary School Social and Emotional Learning Program.

We examined the effects of a social and emotional learning program, Program Positive Attitude, on the social and emotional competencies and self-esteem of Portuguese elementary school students, from the twin perspectives of students and their teachers. Participants were 1237 fourth grade students from 37 schools in a Portuguese municipality, with a mean age of 9.2 years, of which 970 students (in 86 classes) participated in the program and 267 students (in 21 classes) served as a comparison group. Students and their teachers completed questionnaires prior to and following the intervention. We used multilevel linear modeling with a repeated measures design to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Both students and their teachers reported significant intervention gains in self-control and social awareness. Students' in the intervention group also identified reductions in social isolation and improvements in self-esteem, and their teachers reported decreases in their students' social anxiety. An analysis by gender revealed that only girls showed increases in self-esteem, and only boys reported reduced social isolation. These findings support the effectiveness of the program.