Evaluation of a program to improve emotional competences, anxiety, and academic performance

The acquisition of emotional competences plays a vital role in children's development. Recognizing its significance, this paper focuses on evaluating a specific program designed to enhance emotional competences, reduce state anxiety, and ultimately improve academic performance in children in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade of Primary Education. The program consists of 25 activities per grade (5 activities for each emotional competence: emotional awareness, emotional regulation, social competence, emotional autonomy, and life skills and well-being), incorporating the Happy 8-12 video-game for 3rd-grade students. A sample of 773 primary school students from various regions of Spain is used (594 from the experimental group and 179 from the control group), sampling being non-random convenience. The following questionnaires have been administered: CAS, CDE 9-13, Emotional Development Observation Scale, as well as considering the students’ grades. A quasi-experimental pretest-postest design with a negative control group has been used. For the statistical analysis, a mixed linear model is employed, considering the following factors: group (experimental and control), time (pretest and posttest), and gender. These analyses enable a rigorous evaluation of the program's impact on the development of emotional competences. The evaluation of the program reveals positive outcomes, with first- and third-grade students showing enhanced emotional competences. However, there are no notable differences observed in anxiety levels and academic performance variables among the participants. These findings underscore the significance of implementing emotional education programs in schools as a systematic practice.