Emotional Competence in Childhood: Underlying Mechanisms and Consequences

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Emotional competence is crucial for healthy development and undergoes major changes during childhood. It includes the ability to recognize others’ and one’s own emotions, and to regulate and express own emotions appropriately. As emotional competence has been found to be associated with various outcomes (e.g., mental health, well-being), it is important to understand these relationships as well as the underlying mechanisms that shape children’s development. This symposium includes four papers that focus on several aspects of emotional competence (i.e., emotion understanding, emotional self-efficacy, emotion regulation), examine various consequences (e.g., well-being, academic achievement, social competence, future anxiety), and consider different developmental circumstances (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, cultural contexts). Paper 1 describes emotion recognition and comprehension as two important aspects of emotional competence and compares German and Singaporean preschoolers in a cross-cultural setting. Paper 2 more closely examines Singaporean preschool children’s emotion understanding and its relation to social competence and academic achievement. Paper 3 focuses on the interplay of emotional awareness, emotional self-efficacy, and emotion regulation and investigates the role of these aspects of emotional competence for German elementary school children’s well-being. Paper 4 explores longitudinal associations of emotion regulation and executive functioning with German school children’s COVID-related future anxiety. The collection of studies contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms of emotional competence and its outcomes in different developmental contexts. The symposium further aims to stimulate discussion on theoretical assumptions, methodological challenges, next steps for future research, and implications for prevention and intervention programs.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chairs

• Jana-Elisa Rueth, Bielefeld University

• Corina Möller, Saarland University

Individual Presentations

• Culture Shapes Children’s Emotion Understanding. A Cross-cultural Study Investigating German and Singaporean Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Corina Möller, Saarland University; Yang Yang, Nanyang Technological University; Rebecca Bull, Macquarie University; Gisa Aschersleben, Saarland University

• Singaporean Children’s Emotion Understanding, Social Skills, and Academic Achievement - Presenting Author: Yang Yang, Nanyang Technological University; Kelly Adelia, Nanyang Technological University; Corina Möller, Saarland University; Stella Tsotsi, University of Oslo

• The Role of Emotional Awareness, Emotional Self-efficacy, and Emotion Regulation for Elementary School Children’s Well-being - Presenting Author: Jana-Elisa Rueth, Bielefeld University; Arnold Lohaus, Bielefeld University

• Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Predicts School Children’s COVID-related Future Anxiety - Presenting Author: Maria von Salisch, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg; Katharina Voltmer, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg