Emotional competence as a positive youth development construct: a conceptual review

Exploring the psychological experience of novice nurses in stomatological hospitals in China: a phenomenological study

BACKGROUND

At the onset of their professional journey, novice nurses often undergo a multifaceted psychological experience as they transition from theoretical knowledge to clinical practice, potentially impacting their development of professional identity. However, limited research has been conducted on the psychological aspects pertaining to newly graduated nurses in stomatological hospitals in our country.

METHODS

The phenomenological method and semi-structured interviews were used in this study, and the sample size of the interview was purposive sampling method. A semi-structured virtual interview was conducted with 21 new nurses in the department of stomatology. Colaizzi's analysis method was used to analyse the interview data.

RESULTS

Based on Kramer's reality shock theoretical framework and analyzing interview data, this study extracted the psychological experiences of novice nurses during their first year of employment across four distinct stages. The four stages include: cheerful period, frustration period, adjustment period and competency period. Six themes and nine sub-themes were derived from the four period.

CONCLUSION

Due to the lack of professional knowledge, novice oral nurses will experience a series of complex positive and negative emotions at the beginning of their career. Through the research, the training of oral specialty theory, good psychological counseling and peer support can improve their participation in oral outpatient nursing. At the same time, the establishment of oral care quality assurance system and the improvement of oral care higher education in our country will become the focus of future research.

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

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.

Academic performance under COVID-19: The role of online learning readiness and emotional competence

The COVID-19 pandemic caused school closures and social isolation, which created both learning and emotional challenges for adolescents. Schools worked hard to move classes online, but less attention was paid to whether students were cognitively and emotionally ready to learn effectively in a virtual environment. This study focused on online learning readiness and emotional competence as key constructs to investigate their implications for students' academic performance during the COVID-19 period. Two groups of students participated in this study, with 1,316 high school students (Mean age = 16.32, SD = 0.63) representing adolescents and 668 college students (Mean age = 20.20, SD = 1.43) representing young adults. Structural equation modeling was conducted to explore the associations among online learning readiness, emotional competence, and online academic performance during COVID-19 after controlling for pre-COVID-19 academic performance. The results showed that, for high school students, both online learning readiness and emotional competence were positively associated with online academic performance during COVID-19. However, for college students, only online learning readiness showed a significant positive relationship with online academic performance during COVID-19. These results demonstrated that being ready to study online and having high emotional competence could make adolescents more resilient toward COVID-19-related challenges and help them learn more effectively online. This study also highlighted different patterns of associations among cognitive factors, emotional factors, and online academic performance during COVID-19 in adolescence and young adulthood. Developmental implications were also discussed.

Pilot Wellness Program With Adapted Social-Emotional Learning and COVID-19 Curriculum for Refugee Youth

Refugee children are less likely than their non-refugee peers to receive timely diagnoses and treatment for mental and/or behavioral health problems, despite facing multiple risk factors including potential exposure to trauma during premigration, migration, and postmigration experiences. Social-Emotional Learning offers preventive mental health education for children through well-established, evidenced-based curricula. Although there are clear benefits of Social-Emotional Learning curricula, which can help children achieve long-term success emotionally and academically, Social-Emotional Learning curricula are not easily accessible for refugee children, often because of language and socioeconomic barriers. In this pilot study, we evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted Social-Emotional Learning program that included culturally specific, multilingual, trauma-informed wellness, and physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic: EMPOWER (Emotions Program Outside the Clinic With Wellness Education for Refugees). We used the Intervention Mapping framework which guided the (1) planning, (2) program development, and (3) mixed-method evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of the EMPOWER pilot. We found that this adaptation was well-received by Afghan refugee families and that COVID-19 safety measures were well-understood after participation. Challenges emerged around videoconferencing connectivity and around finding a common language for discussing emotions. Future iterations of the program and evaluations will require continued partnerships with community members and organizations. As we continue and expand EMPOWER, we aim to evaluate short-term improvement in Social-Emotional Learning competence as well as long-term mental and behavioral health outcomes for children and their families.

Emotional competences and subjective well-being: The mediating role of relationship satisfaction in young Spanish adults

Establishing and maintaining relationships is one of the challenges facing young adults at the beginning of this stage in their lives. Emotional competences are related to relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. This paper aims to study the relationship between emotional competences and subjective well-being in young adults, considering the mediating role of satisfaction with the partner. Two hundred and thirty-three young Spanish people (60.1% women) between 18 and 35 years old (Mean = 22.93; SD = 3.72) participated in the study. All of them had a romantic partner. The Questionnaire of Emotional Skills and Competences (ESCQ-21), the Scale of Evaluation of the Relationships (RAS), the Scale of Satisfaction with Life (SWLS) and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE) were used to measure the variables. For analysis, the SPSS version 26 and Mplus version 7.0 were used. The results indicate a significant relationship between emotional competences, relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. The mediation model showed that satisfaction with the relationship plays a mediating role between the ability to regulate emotions and subjective well-being. The importance of emotional education both inside and outside relationships is considered, in order to promote healthy and non-violent relationships among young people.

Effect of Coronavirus-19 on Mental Condition of International Students in China

Despite its importance, no study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on the mental condition of international students in China. By using data from international students in China, this study finds the positive and affirmative connection between fear of COVID-19 and generalized anxiety disorder among foreign students. Furthermore, this study reveals a negative association between fear of COVID-19 and the psychological well-being of foreign students in China. We also find that emotional intelligence has a positive and optimistic moderating influence on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and generalized anxiety disorder but it has not moderating effect on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological well-being. Our study contributes to the body and knowledge and offers new insights concerning the effects of COVID-19 on the mental condition of international students.

Emergency C-section, maternal satisfaction and emotion regulation strategies: effects on PTSD and postpartum depression symptoms

OBJECTIVE

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between a mother's current emotion regulation strategy (antecedent-focused vs. response-focused), her satisfaction with childbirth, and posttraumatic and/or depressive symptoms after unplanned C-section.

BACKGROUND

The mother's and baby's health is considered a priority during childbirth. As a result, situations in which an unplanned C-section is required may not allow mothers to express their needs and emotions. This may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction regarding the childbirth experience.

METHODS

Fifty French participants aged 18-35 (M = 27.10; S.D. = 3.99) who had a C-section were recruited on social networking groups and completed four self-report measures online, up to two years after childbirth. These measures assessed emotion regulation strategies currently used, birth satisfaction, postpartum depression symptoms and PTSD symptoms.

RESULTS

Main results indicate (1) Mothers who use expressive suppression, a response-focused strategy, are less satisfied with childbirth. (2) Emotion regulation, when combined with maternal satisfaction, shows a negative association with posttraumatic stress score and depression score.

CONCLUSION

This study provides interesting data for further research. Follow-up studies about emotion regulation, postpartum depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms should be conducted in the future in order to provide clinical recommendations.

Measurement equivalence of the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) in adolescents and emerging adults

The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) is a self-report instrument measuring distress, depression, anxiety and somatization. The questionnaire has been developed and validated in adult samples. It is unknown whether adolescents and emerging adults respond to the 4DSQ items in the same way as adults do. The objective of the study was to examine measurement equivalence of the 4DSQ across adolescents, emerging adults and adults. 4DSQ data were collected in a primary care psychotherapy practice (N = 1349). Measurement equivalence was assessed using differential item and test functioning (DIF and DTF) analysis in an item response theory framework. DIF was compared across the following groups: adolescents (age 10–17), emerging adults (age 18–25), and adults (age 26–40). DIF was found in 9 items (out of 50) across adolescents and adults, and in 4 items across emerging adults and adults. The item with the largest DIF was ‘difficulty getting to sleep’, which was less severe for adolescents compared to adults. A likely explanation is that adolescents have a high base rate for problems with sleep initiation. The effect of DIF on the scale scores (DTF) was negligible. Adolescents and emerging adults score some 4DSQ items differently compared to adults but this had practically no effect on 4DSQ scale scores. 4DSQ scale scores from adolescents and emerging adults can be interpreted in the same way as 4DSQ scores from adults.

Fear of Terror and Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence

The purpose of this study was to empirically explore whether or not the level of emotional intelligence of adolescents mitigates the potential adverse effects of the fear of terror on their psychological well-being. Data for this study were collected through a voluntary survey from a sample of 385 adolescents residing in the terrorism-affected provinces of Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that fear of terrorism had a significant negative relationship with the psychological well-being of adolescents. The study results further revealed that emotional intelligence significantly moderated the relationship between the fear of terrorism and the psychological well-being of the adolescents. Therefore, the negative relationship was stronger for those with low emotional intelligence and weaker for those with high emotional intelligence. This study also discusses several practical implications along with suggestions for future research.

Family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among youth

This study explored the relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among 547 respondents, between the age of 16 and 24 years from Malaysia, Iran, China, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. The questionnaires were Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence. The higher the family functioning, the higher the trait emotional intelligence among youths. The findings provide a deeper understanding in the field of family functioning and trait emotional intelligence and have implications for parents, administrators and child relationships dealing with trait emotional intelligence.