Relationship closeness mediates the longitudinal relation between social-emotional competencies and subjective well-being among school-age children

Considerable evidence in the literature suggests that social-emotional competencies are associated with subjective well-being across developmental periods. Through a process-oriented approach, the present study tested the mediating role of children’s relationship closeness between social-emotional competencies and subjective well-being in middle childhood. Participants were 313 school-age children (45.45% girls; mean age = 9.86 years old, SD = 1.22 years) in Hong Kong, who completed a set of measures twice, over an 8-month period. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating effect of relationship closeness, over and above covariates including child age, gender, and baseline subjective well-being. The present findings revealed that the structural equation model fit well to the data. Specifically, social-emotional competencies were related to more relationship closeness, which, in turn, was related to more subjective well-being 8 months later. Moreover, the relation between social-emotional competencies and subjective well-being was mediated by relationship closeness. These findings underscore the significance of relationship closeness with other people as a conduit between social-emotional competencies and subjective well-being in middle childhood. The study also informs applied efforts in promoting children’s social emotional learning as an asset for cultivating close relationships and well-being. This study identifies school-age children’s relationship closeness as an underlying process for the longitudinal relation between social-emotional competencies and subjective well-being. The findings resonate with calls for enhancing social-emotional learning to strengthen social relationships and mental health among school-age children, particularly in the Chinese context.