A number of scholars within the social sciences and the humanities have elaborated on the cultural and psychological dimensions of living through social, economic and political crises. Still, developments during the last decade have created an awareness that something fundamental of the human condition is at stake, especially for the young…

"Research Findings": Empathy is a relevant component of social interactions that can be observed from early childhood. Validated tests for young children are still scarce. This study has two goals: (1) to validate the modified two-factor version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) in Spanish children between the ages of 3 and 8;…

Research has underscored the cognitive benefits of reading, but scholars have also begun to explore its implications in the socioemotional domain. The authors review research exploring the links between reading and social understanding skills such as empathy and perspective taking, examine the qualities of literature that are posited to foster…

This study is a randomized control trial aimed at testing the role of a human-assisted social robot as an intervention mediator in a socio-emotional understanding protocol for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fourteen children (4-8 years old) were randomly assigned to 10 sessions of a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention…

Studies of children's developing social identification often focus on individual forms of identity. Yet, everyone has multiple potential identities. Here we investigated whether making children aware of their multifaceted identities--effectively seeing themselves from multiple angles--would promote their flexible thinking. In Experiment 1, 6- to…

Aim(s): Naive realism is the false conviction that one perceives and responds to the world objectively or 'as it is' rather than subjectively through the lens of personal motives, experiences and expectations. The teaching of naïve realism to adults has evidenced increased perspective taking. The current research aimed to evaluate if this approach…

American teens are 40 percent less empathetic than they were three decades ago. Recognizing that students need more than academic rigor to succeed, a growing number of schools are turning their focus to social-emotional qualities like empathy. But which practices enhance empathy and how will principals know if teachers are implementing them…

Background: The Incredible Years® (IY) Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) programme may be an effective way to reduce teacher stress levels, improve child behaviour, and promote positive socio-emotional development. However, few studies have considered what teachers think of the course and how it might work. Aims: In this paper, we examine…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

Background: Summer camp is proposed as a context to enhance prosocial behavior. This context could be used to apply intervention programs, in addition to being a time of fun and conviviality. A camp-based intervention program to increase empathy was administered for adolescents at risk. Purpose: The aim of this study was to apply and evaluate a…

Despite the enthusiasm around social-emotional learning, the vast number of skills, dispositions, and attitudes we hope to infuse into students will overwhelm even the most ambitious schools. However, a single core capacity underlies a great many social-emotional learning outcomes: social perspective taking. Recent research on this process of…

Use these proven strategies for mediation to maintain a safe, productive classroom environment, model positive social interactions, and allow students to increase their personal responsibility.

Research indicates that social isolation among youth is on the rise and not only impacts a child's self-esteem, but also plays a key role in health and academic performance. A 2013 study published in the American Journal of Public Health linked social isolation with depression, loss of sleep, eating disorders, and poor cardiovascular health. In…

This brief applies value-added models to student surveys in the CORE Districts to explore whether social-emotional learning (SEL) surveys can be used to measure effective classroom-level supports for SEL. The authors find that classrooms differ in their effect on students' growth in self-reported SEL--even after accounting for school-level…

Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective-taking, infer mental states, and predict intentions, behavior, and actions in others. Theory of mind performance is associated with foundational cognitive and socioemotional skills, including verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control…