Universal SEL interventions have garnered increasing attention in educational systems worldwide, including in Portuguese schools, with short- and long-term benefits for students, such as social and emotional competencies, academic performance, and positive attitudes and behaviours. Using a pre- and post-test design, the current study aims to…

This study examined the extent to which students' perceptions of social-emotional instructional support (autonomy-support, competence-support) from teachers is associated with their perceived social-emotional competence and, in turn, behavioural and emotional well-being outcomes. Two types of perceived competence were examined: perceived…

Introduction: The present study examined the efficacy of the universal prevention version of the Coping Power Program in reducing behavioral and emotional problems and in promoting prosocial behaviors in middle-school classrooms. Methods: The study used a randomized control study design; and the sample included 839 middle-school Italian youths…

Problematic and disruptive behaviours continue to be a pervasive problem in elementary school classrooms across the globe, with recent reports indicating rising trends. The present study seeks to describe a unique sample of children who are seeking mental health services and present with specific problematic school behaviours. Preliminary analyses…

The widely supported wish for more inclusive education places ever greater expectations on teachers' abilities to teach all children, including those with special needs and challenging behaviours. The present study aimed at the question whether teachers judge pupil behaviour more negatively if there are more children with difficult behaviour in…

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a crucial prerequisite for children's emotional, social and academic development. Therefore, it is important to be able to measure accurately the quality of interactions among them. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is a widely accepted instrument in measuring the quality of…

Nurture groups (NGs) are an intervention implemented to improve the social, emotional and behavioural functioning of vulnerable children and they are increasingly being used within secondary school settings (Colley 2009). The psychological processes underpinning change within a NG intervention for adolescents has been identified as a topic that…

There has been an increasing focus on social and emotional development in educational programmes in early childhood as both variables are believed to influence behavioural outcomes in the classroom. However, relationships between social and emotional development and behaviour in early childhood have rarely been explored. This article sets out to…

Background: The constructs of closeness, conflict, and dependency, which are derived from attachment theory, are widely used to qualify teachers' perceptions of relationships with individual children. Aims: Our main aim was to reveal whether similar and reliable dimensions could be identified in middle childhood with a newly developed student…

This study examined the frequency of bullying, victimisation and defending behaviours among children with autism spectrum disorder and normal intelligence, using both self-report and peer-report information. Peer-report and self-report data were collected on a single classroom of 26 early adolescent boys attending a special school for children…

This paper discusses the findings and implications of a semi-randomised control trial study on the effectiveness of circle time (CT) on primary school students' social and emotional learning, as well as classroom teachers' and students' experience of CT. A social and emotional learning programme was delivered through CT by trained classroom…

Encouraging student prosocial behavior (PSB) is a challenge for urban middle schools. The issue of student behavior is a racialized one, as Black students generally evince more negative behavioral outcomes than their White peers. This racial "behavior gap" may be conditional on the school environment. This study examines how one element…