Poster #61 - Promoting Social-Emotional Competencies for Rural Children in China: A Quasi-Experimental Study

• In Event: Poster Session 19

Abstract

Background/Purpose
More than half (138 million) of the children in China reside in rural areas (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Compared with their urban counterparts, rural children experience higher levels of anxiety, depression, and lower self-esteem (Chen et al., 2019; Hesketh & Ding, 2019; Liu et al., 2018).
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs in school settings have been shown to be effective interventions in Western contexts. Research demonstrates that the SEL program successfully increases social and emotional competencies (SECs) (Sande et al., 2019). Research shows SECs are an outcome of SEL that promote children’s long-term development while serving to moderate the relationship between risk factors and developmental outcomes including mental health (Domitrovich et al., 2017).
While SEL research is ubiquitous in Western contexts, it is minimal in China. Although several SEL programs have been developed or adopted for school children in China, few studies to date have examined their efficacy and effectiveness in local contexts. The scarcity of SEL research in rural China among school-aged children constrains our understanding of SEL’s effectiveness in enhancing their SECs. To help fill this research gap, this quasi-experimental study examines the efficacy of a well-designed SEL program in a set of rural Chinese schools in terms of their contribution to the development of SECs in the children.
Methods
We use a quasi-experimental design to study the efficacy of an SEL program in two counties of southwest China. The study draws on 638 fifth graders with a mean age of 10.94 years (SD=0.58) from two rural schools who were selected as the intervention group and 657 fifth graders with a mean age of 10.99 years (SD=0.55) from another two matched schools who were selected as the comparison group. We trained 13 schoolteachers to deliver an eight-session SEL intervention.
Measures: We use the Chinese translated and adapted version of Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs), which cover the competencies of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. This instrument was measured at baseline pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention.
Data analysis: T-tests and chi-square tests are applied to check the covariate balance between the intervention and comparison group. In order to control cluster effect, we employ multilevel mixed-effects models to estimate the intervention effects on rural children’s SECs.
Results
After adjusting for baseline scores, students from the intervention group at the post intervention time point achieved a higher total score of SECs (β=3.38, p<0.01) than those in the comparison group. Results indicate a statistically significant increase in three subscales of SECs: self-awareness (β=1.23, p<0.001), social awareness (β=0.68, p<0.001) and relationship skills (β=0.57, p<0.05). There were, however, no significant differences in the competencies of self-management and responsible decision-making.
Conclusions and Implications
Our findings demonstrate the significant intervention effects on rural children’s SECs, indicating that the potential of scaling up the SEL program to strengthening rural children’s mental wellbeing in China. In addition, results also inform the agency to continue improving their SEL curriculum on the two key areas: self-management and responsible decision-making.

Authors

• Linyun Fu, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Zhen Zhang, The University of Hong Kong

• Yuanyuan Yang, Washington University in St. Louis