Author(s): Santos, Anabela Caetano
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/27090
Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Subject(s): Development; Health promotion; Social and emotional competencies; Student engagement; Youth; Competências sociais e emocionais; Desenvolvimento; Envolvimento académico; Juventude; Promoção da saúde
Student engagement (SE) is associated with higher academic performance and persistence, influencing academic completion. Social and emotional competencies (SECs) are fundamental protective factors for a healthy development. Despite being associated with SE, there are research gaps in this area. Therefore, our goal was to analyse the association between SECs and SE, accounting for individual and environmental factors. At first, a systematic review was performed to summarise previous research. Then, a questionnaire to assess emotion regulation strategies (ERS) in youth was validated. Subsequently, four quantitative studies were performed to examine the association between SECs and SE: the first, focused on ERS and included a representative sample of Portuguese youth (10-25 years old), the second one compared students who lived with their parents vs in residential care, and integrated school success perception and absenteeism; the third one had a sample of university students from nine countries and analysed the influence of the country's development index, and the fourth used a longitudinal methodology and also analysed the impact on mental health. Our findings suggest that SECs are positively associated with higher SE and lower absenteeism, regardless of family or sociocultural context; SE protects the maintenance of SECs in adverse environments; school success perception decreases absenteeism; and CSEs seem to be predictive of higher SE and better mental health. To enhance the effectiveness of health-promoting programmes, and based on evidence, we highlight that: social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes must be universal and integrated into the academic curriculum (including at university), but consider the developmental characteristics and needs of individuals; SE is fundamental to promote health, especially for the most vulnerable students and in adverse situations; SE support must include the implementation of youth-friendly policies.
