The effect of emotional competence online psycho-education on youngsters’ emotional competence in Türkiye

Abstract The aim of this study is to adapt the Emotional Competence Online Psycho-education (ECOP) into Turkish and to examine the effect of this online training on the levels of emotional competence (emotion recognition, emotion understanding and emotion regulation skills) in youngsters between the ages of 16–22 living in Türkiye. Although there are many different trainings available, it is thought that these trainings should be developed with technological methods, and strong theoretical and methodological foundations. In this research, the training was theoretically embedded in the emotion construct. The Solomon Four Group Design, one of the true experimental research designs, was used. The study group consisted of a total of 223 youngsters representing all regions of Türkiye: N = 109 in the first group (experiment N = 55, control N = 54) and N = 114 in the second group (experiment N = 42, control N = 72). The data were collected from 12 different regions of Türkiye according to the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Level-1. The sample was highly representative based on Türkiye’s regions. The training and measurement tools were applied to participants through asynchronous online platforms. Participants accessed the materials via their phones, tablets or computers. GERT-S was implemented to measure emotion recognition, CEUT-S was utilised to measure emotion understanding; and STEM-S was utilised to measure emotion regulation. Two-way ANOVA for independent groups and SPSS 22.0 were utilised for analysis. In conclusion, ECOP had a low effect on emotional competence in Turkish youngsters. This research showed that the training developed in a Western context is generalisable and applicable to Turkish culture.