Bullying remains one of the most prevalent threats to adolescents' wellbeing and mental health worldwide. This study examines the prevalence, nature, and impact of bullying and cyberbullying among 3,456 adolescents in Malta, specifically students attending Year 7, 9 or 11 in Malta's mainstream schools (age 11-16 years), focusing on victimisation and perpetration experiences across different gender and school years. Face-to-face bullying, notably verbal abuse and social exclusion, were the most prevalent bullying forms. Boys were more likely to experience physical bullying, while girls more often experienced social exclusion. Younger students were more frequently involved in bullying perpetration and victimisation, and were more likely to intervene in bullying situations. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that both victims and perpetrators of bullying tend to experience lower levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of bullying dynamics in Malta and offers insights for developing effective anti-bullying strategies in educational settings.
Although wellbeing and social and emotional education are key components of many school curricula worldwide, there is a lack of resources to support classroom-based assessment of students' curricular knowledge about wellbeing. This paper outlines the systematic development and validation of the Wellbeing Situational Judgement Test (WB-SJT), an animated, scenario-based assessment of students' learning about wellbeing in the context of the Irish lower secondary Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. Validation data (n = 316) demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties, high face validity, and positive criterion-related associations with students' levels of connectedness, happiness and overall psychosocial function. The potential of the WB-SJT for both formative and summative assessment purposes is discussed, along with broader implications for schools' wellbeing education.
Women in academia frequently encounter institutional and cultural barriers that constrain career progression, a phenomenon commonly described as the motherhood penalty. This paper examines how gatekeeping, understood as control over access to resources, opportunities, and institutional support, shapes the emotional and professional experiences of female academics and support staff at a higher education institution in Malta. The present study draws on 31 semi-structured interviews with staff who have caregiving responsibilities, complemented by documentary analysis of institutional policies. Findings are interpreted through the FRAGILE framework, encompassing Family-friendly entitlements, Resource accessibility, Autonomy, Gatekeeping, Institutional culture, Labour (emotional), and Equity. Results show that gatekeeping restricts access to family-friendly measures, intensifies emotional labour, and contributes to cumulative career penalties. Participants describe navigating complex hierarchies marked by implicit bias and uneven access to career-enhancing opportunities. The study highlights the structural and emotional consequences of informal institutional control and underscores the need for reforms that promote equity and wellbeing in higher education.
The association between alexithymia, the difficulty in identifying, processing, and describing emotions, and linguistic competencies, particularly definitional skills, has received scant attention in research. The present study sought to investigate the bidirectional association between alexithymia and word-definition ability-a metalinguistic and metarepresentational form of explicit verbal competence-while also considering the contributions of emotional intelligence, conceptualised as implicit psychological dimensions. A sample of Italian female adolescents (N = 886; M age = 16.2 years) completed the Italian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), a performance-based measure of emotional intelligence, and the Co.De. Scale, which evaluates the formal and content-related quality of definitions of primary and secondary emotion terms. We found an association between poorer word-definition performance and higher alexithymia scores, but also a unique negative relationship with the externally oriented thinking component. Preliminary evidence indicates the existence of a metalanguage/meta representative deficit as levels of alexithymia increase. The results highlight the value of assessing and strengthening definitional competence in emotional language as an early indicator of alexithymia risk and as a foundation for preventive and clinical interventions amongst adolescents.
Understanding how students' academic concerns give rise to their emotions during classes is essential for fostering emotionally supportive and engaging higher education environments. While emotions in learning have been widely studied, less is known about how specific academic concerns act as antecedents that help explain students' classroom-related emotions. This study examined how students' concerns about lecture content, in-class engagement, workload, and competing roles influence the emotions they experience during classes in higher education. Data was collected from 380 undergraduate and postgraduate students, of whom 65.5% were female and the largest age group was 18-24 years (60.3%), enrolled at a Maltese higher education institution through an anonymous online questionnaire. A concurrent mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests, while qualitative responses were examined through inductive thematic analysis to identify key concern areas. Results revealed significant differences in emotional responses by age and programme type, with younger students reporting higher levels of boredom, shame, and anxiety. Four main areas of concern emerged from qualitative data analysis: lecture relevance, engagement, workload balance, and wellbeing. Addressing these concerns through pedagogical design and psychosocial support can foster positive emotions, engagement, and emotional wellbeing in higher education.
Teachers' wellbeing plays a crucial role in fostering high-quality educational environments and positive outcomes for students, teachers, and the educational community. Previous studies show that teachers emotional regulation strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal, positively affect wellbeing (Braun et al., 2020). Additionally, work-related factors, such as work engagement and working conditions, also play a significant role. This study explores wellbeing among 443 teachers, examining its relationship with emotional regulation strategies, and work engagement. Data was collected using the Mental Health Continuum (Fonte et al., 2020), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Sinval et al., 2018). Results showed that teachers exhibit medium-high emotional wellbeing, medium psychological wellbeing, and medium-low social wellbeing. Cognitive reappraisal and work engagement, particularly vigor and dedication, positively predicted wellbeing, while emotional suppression negatively predicted all dimensions of wellbeing. Findings highlight the importance of promoting emotional regulation and work engagement enhance teachers
Although social-emotional learning (SEL) programmes are globally recognised for their positive contribution to the overall development of young people, they still lack a clear and consistent presence in the curricula of South-Eastern European (SEE) education systems (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia). This exploratory study, grounded in the theoretical framework of SEL, aims to explore young adolescents’ self-assessment across multiple SEL dimensions. Using a questionnaire originally developed to evaluate the Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence (LQSFA) programme in SEE countries, data were collected from 11,000 sixth-grade students (ages 11–13 years). No significant difference between the five countries in students' assessments of their SEL needs was found, suggesting a consistent, region-wide necessity for such interventions. Approximately one-third of students reported some difficulty practising key SEL skills, and about one-fifth expressed uncertainty in evaluating their competencies and in the support they receive. Females, compared to males, assessed responsibility management skills and social awareness more favourably. The study offers important insights into the perceived need for SEL in the SEE educational context while the questionnaire developed for this study shows potential as a useful evaluation tool for the implementation of the LQSFA programme in SEE countries.
Subjective Well-Being (SWB) has emerged as a vital indicator of student mental health and educational success. This study investigates SWB among students in a postsecondary vocational education setting in Malta. Against a backdrop of increasing global and local mental health concerns among young people, the present study explores SWB within a multidimensional framework encompassing life satisfaction and positive and negative affectivity. Data were collected from 391 students aged 16–46 (M = 19) through the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Demographic and contextual variables such as age, socio-economic status, level of studies, perceived responsibilities, perceived health, and student-lecturer relationships, showed significant associations with SWB outcomes. Notably, students with mental health conditions or learning disabilities reported low SWB. The study underscores the importance of fostering supportive educational environments, particularly for those at risk in their SWB, and highlights SWB as a key factor in educational and psychological interventions aimed at improving student outcomes.
As the new Book Reviews Editor, I would like to introduce myself and extend my warmest thanks to Helen Cowie, the previous editor, for her inspiring work over the past few years. As a resilience researcher and lecturer in social-emotional learning (SEL), I am passionate about promoting concepts, theories, and insights that support the well-being of students and teachers and their ability to reach their potential in education. This shapes my approach to this column, which aims to promote a resilient, inclusive environment for all actors in education. [excerpt]
Research has shown that emotional intelligence programmes can help improve adolescents' mental health, well-being, and behaviour. Although they are primarily applied in the school context, such programmes can also be adapted to specific populations. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an emotional intelligence programme for adolescents involved in legal proceedings, based on the ability model of emotional intelligence proposed by Mayer and Salovey. A quasi- experimental design was used with 231 Colombian adolescents aged between 14 and 18 (M = 15.55, SD = 1.30). Emotional intelligence and other well-being and mental health variables were assessed using self-report scales. Results indicated that adolescents who participated in the programme improved their emotional intelligence, resilience, and emotional stability, with reduced emotional symptoms, particularly stress. The results suggest that the implemented programme is useful in helping adolescents with behavioural problems improve their mental health and subjective well-being.
Rural teachers in resource-constrained environments engage in complex and sustained emotional labour as they navigate intersecting professional, cultural, and institutional expectations with limited systemic support. This study investigates how rural teachers in northeastern China perform emotional labour across classroom, school, and community contexts, with particular attention to the strategies they adopt and the structural forces that shape their affective experiences. Drawing on a qualitative case study design with data collected from semi-structured interviews across three rural school sites, the research reveals a dynamic interplay of surface acting, deep acting, and genuine emotional expression. These strategies are shaped by institutional demands, gendered norms, and community surveillance, and are further mediated by teachers’ gender, professional experience, and subject specialization. The findings underscore how emotional labour in rural teaching is not simply a personal coping mechanism, but a socially regulated process embedded in broader systems of affective discipline. The study calls for context-sensitive interventions—including emotional resilience training, gender-responsive support policies, and localized mental health resources—to mitigate emotional burnout and enhance teacher well-being.
The development of students’ social competence is a key goal in emotional education, yet teachers may face conceptual challenges that hinder effective implementation. This conceptual review is particularly relevant for pre-service and in-service teacher education, highlighting challenges that teachers face in implementing emotional education effectively. This review identifies five misunderstandings shaping teacher perceptions: (1) conflating social acceptance with close friendship; (2) overgeneralising distinct social skills; (3) focusing on interpersonal behaviour while overlooking intrapersonal processes; (4) encouraging social participation without sufficient skill readiness; and (5) neglecting emotional foundations essential for social learning. The interpretative framework draws on theoretical literature and thematic analysis of interviews with 15 educators, illustrated through examples from elementary and secondary education, bridging theory and classroom practice. This review aligns with a body of research that takes a reflective and critical perspective on social and emotional education, seeking ways to refine it and adopt a more holistic approach to students. By integrating conceptual and practice-based insights, it contributes to the emotional education field and provides a foundational model to support future research and advance understanding of social competence development.
Teachers’ social-emotional competence (SEC) underpins students’ SEC, and self- assessment helps educators identify strengths and areas for improvement. Our study adapted CASEL’s Personal SEL Reflection tool for the Estonian educational context. Data from 528 primary and secondary school teachers resulted in a refined and shortened 15-item instrument with five CASEL core factors. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) supported a five-factor structure with good internal consistency and convergent validity (α = .74–.89; ω = .64–.81; AVE = .49–.73). The study establishes the reliability and validity of this culturally adapted tool for self-assessment purposes and highlights its potential for professional growth and teacher development initiatives.
Teacher mental health is a critical yet under-addressed dimension of educational quality and sustainability. While educators are widely recognised as key agents of student well- being, their own mental health remains relatively marginalised in research, institutional practices, and policy. This discussion paper highlights the urgent need to rethink how teacher mental health is conceptualised and addressed within education systems. Rather than viewing it as a private concern to be managed individually, it needs to be understood as a collective responsibility that requires institutional commitment and structural support. Adopting a narrative and integrative approach, the present paper draws on peer- reviewed studies selected from major scientific databases, alongside international evidence-based programmes and policy frameworks, to explore the key structural, relational, and organisational factors that shape educators’ mental health. Particular attention is paid to the emotional costs of teaching and the clinical consequences of chronic stress. The paper calls for policy reforms that embed teachers’ mental health into professional standards, quality assurance frameworks, and leadership training.
Student engagement is a crucial determinant of both academic achievement and personal development. The use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions is considered a highly effective way of improving affect and relationships as well as engagement. One of the aims of the present study was to examine the extent to which student engagement predicts the use of cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy. We also analyse whether engagement is positively associated with creative self-efficacy, an important trait for students' future professional development, and whether this relationship is mediated by cognitive reappraisal. Participants consisted of 604 preservice teachers (60.1% female, 30.8% male, 0.7% non-binary, 8.4% not disclosed) aged between 18 and 29 years (M = 20.67, SD = 1.64) and enrolled in a university in the Basque Country (northern Spain). Students with higher levels of engagement, both behavioural and affective, scored higher on cognitive reappraisal and creative self-efficacy. Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that affective engagement had an indirect effect on creative self-efficacy via cognitive reappraisal. Initiatives to promote engagement and enhance creative self-efficacy through greater use of cognitive reappraisal are essential to ensure that preservice teachers develop the requisite skills to deal effectively with the demands of the profession.
Teachers' wellbeing plays a crucial role in fostering high-quality educational environments and positive outcomes for students, teachers, and the educational community. Previous studies show that teachers´ emotional regulation strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal, positively affect wellbeing (Braun et al., 2020). Additionally, work-related factors, such as work engagement and working conditions, also play a significant role. This study explores wellbeing among 443 teachers, examining its relationship with emotional regulation strategies, and work engagement. Data was collected using the Mental Health Continuum (Fonte et al., 2020), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Sinval et al., 2018). Results showed that teachers exhibit medium-high emotional wellbeing, medium psychological wellbeing, and medium-low social wellbeing. Cognitive reappraisal and work engagement, particularly vigor and dedication, positively predicted wellbeing, while emotional suppression negatively predicted all dimensions of wellbeing. Findings highlight the importance of promoting emotional regulation and work engagement to enhance teacher´s wellbeing.
This study aimed to adapt and examine the cross-cultural validity and reliability of the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale - Teacher Version (CNNES-T), which assesses the levels of early childhood (EC) teachers' perception of their reactions towards young children's negative emotions. For this purpose, two studies were carried out. In Study-I, the scale is adapted using a team translation technique, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted to investigate the factor structure of the adapted scale with a sample of 720 EC teachers. Study-I revealed that the scale's factor structure differed from the original version. In Study-II, the structure of the scale was analysed by considering internal consistency estimates and confirmed with an adequate model fit via confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 358 EC teachers. Findings supported the two-factor model of CCNES-T in the Turkish context, consisting of 48 items with good internal consistency coefficients.
This study explores the role of Bicycle Motocross (BMX) beyond its conventional recreational function, focusing on its impact on individual and social wellbeing. Through a quantitative approach employing the Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire and a tailored BMX Riding Experiences Survey, factors associated to BMX are used to predict mental and social health in riders ages 15 years to 55 years old (n=240) using linear regression analysis. The individual wellbeing dimensions investigated include confidence, emotional insight, negative cognition, social skills, and empathy. Additionally, social wellbeing aspects such as family, school, and peer connectedness are examined. Findings indicate that peer encouragement, family support, helping others after falls, creative opportunities, observational learning, and contributing to local riding spots emerged as significant positive predictors of overall wellbeing. Additionally, problem-solving demands and embracing managed risks in BMX correlated with reduced anxious thinking patterns. This research underscores the significance of BMX not merely as a recreational activity but as a promoter of comprehensive wellbeing across multiple domains.
The purpose of this study is to explore refugee children's experiences of online education during the COVID pandemic. A phenomenological study was conducted with thirty Syrian refugee children. Semi-structured interviews were held to get an in-depth understanding of the participants’ experiences of online education during the pandemic. Findings reveal that during online education, the participants had to deal with multiple challenges in their home lives and their educational environment. As they struggled to access basic needs such as food, clean water, and warm houses, the lack of internet connection and electronic devices, along with the language barriers, further disrupted their education. Listening to the voices of refugee children and exploring their unique experiences during online education provided insights for policymakers and educators in creating a more effective and inclusive learning environment for refugee children.
