IntroductionTeaching is a profession characterized by high emotional demands and exposure to multiple stressors, often leading to elevated levels of perceived stress. Self-efficacy and socio-emotional competence have been identified as key protective resources that enable teachers to cope more effectively with professional challenges. The present quasi-experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of an Online Wellbeing Course (OWC) in enhancing teachers’ socio-emotional competence and self-efficacy and reducing perceived stress.MethodsA total of 151 in-service Italian teachers took part in the study, with schools randomly assigned to an experimental group (OWC; n = 72) or a control group (n = 79). Participants completed validated measures of perceived stress, socio-emotional competence, and self-efficacy at pre- and post-test.ResultsTeachers in the OWC group reported significant improvements in socio-emotional competence and self-efficacy, as well as a reduction in perceived stress compared to the control group. Moreover, pre- to post-test gains in self-efficacy - but not socio-emotional competence - significantly mediated the relationship between participation in the OWC and reductions in perceived stress.DiscussionThese findings provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of online wellbeing interventions in supporting teachers’ psychological resources and reducing stress. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed.

Within the growing emphasis on school well-being, which impacts both teaching and learning in multiple ways, the psychological resources required by teachers to deal with the challenges of their everyday work have also come under increased scrutiny. Scholars have particularly focused on socio-emotional competences (SECs) and its relationship with stress and burnout. However, few studies have analyzed the extent to which SECs protects against these negative outcomes over time and whether length of teaching experience influences such effects. In the current study, the longitudinal effects of teachers' SECs on their self-perceived stress and risk of burnout were examined, controlling for the effect of the variable "years of work experience". A sample of 276 teachers (mean age = 46.6 years +/- 9.9 years) completed questionnaires about SECs, self-perceived stress and burnout, and their own socio-demographic profiles, at two time points (the beginning and end of the same academic year). A cross-lagged model showed that SECs were associated with the teachers' levels of stress at Time 1 and their risk of burnout at Time 2. Furthermore, length of teaching experience was related to both SECs and burnout at Time 1. These findings and their potential implications are discussed.

Background/Objectives. Social and Emotional Education (SEE) interventions during early childhood have shown considerable promise in enhancing children’s emotion understanding, social competence, and behavioural adjustments. However, few studies have examined their long-term impact, especially across the preschool-to-primary school transition. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a manualized SEE program, Timmy’s Trip to Planet Earth, in promoting emotional, behavioural, and social functioning over time. Methods. A quasi-experimental longitudinal design was adopted with pre- and post-test assessments conducted approximately 18 months apart. Participants were 89 typically developing children (aged 59–71 months), assigned to an experimental group (n = 45) or a waiting-list group (n = 44). The program combined teacher training, classroom-based lessons, home activities, and teachers’ ongoing implementation support. The effectiveness of the program was measured via the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30). Results. Significant Time × Group interactions were observed for the TEC External and Mental components, indicating greater improvements in emotion recognition and mental state understanding in the intervention group. The SDQ revealed significant reductions in conduct problems and increased prosocial behaviours. In the SCBE-30, a significant interaction effect was found for social competence, with the intervention group showing greater improvement over time compared to the control group. Conclusions. The findings suggest that SEE programs can produce meaningful and lasting improvements in children’s emotional and social skills across key educational transitions. Teacher training and family involvement likely played a critical role in supporting the program’s sustained impact.

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.

Adolescents who experience school burnout feel overwhelmed and disengaged from school. Among the protective factors, Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) can play an important role in preventing school burnout and promoting well-being during adolescence. In the present study, we aimed at testing, within a single conceptual comprehensive model, how students’ TEI affects their level of well-being, both directly and indirectly via school burnout. A total of 229 Italian high school students (110 females; M = 16.64 years, SD = 1.46) were asked to complete three self-report quantitative measures evaluating their TEI, school burnout, and well-being, respectively. The structural equation model revealed that participants’ TEI had a significant association with both their levels of school burnout and well-being. TEI was found to have both a direct and an indirect significant effect—by reducing the impact of school burnout—on participants’ well-being. Significant effects of age and gender emerged. We discuss the practical and educational implications of the findings.

Teaching is a mentally and physically demanding profession that can be a source of stress and burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic put further pressure on teachers who had to face sudden challenges, such as online teaching and difficulties in holding students’ attention in virtual environments. Research has demonstrated that the negative effects of stress factors on teachers’ wellbeing can be modulated by coping strategies. This work explores the main sources of stress that jeopardized Italian teachers’ wellbeing after the COVID-19 pandemic and the coping strategies that they adopted. Eighty-six teachers, belonging to five school institutes located in Northern Italy, took part in three semi-structured group interviews, where their perceptions about wellbeing at school and occupational stress experiences were explored. Furthermore, they completed a survey with questions about recent stressful life events and the coping strategies that they had adopted in the last month. A thematic analysis revealed stressors related to four themes: adverse work conditions, a lack of support (from both school administrators and families), precariousness, and a demanding school system. A total of 22% of teachers experienced stressful events in the last month (e.g., health problems and loss), and 30% reported that they had adopted coping strategies, especially emotion-focused ones. The findings may drive educational policies to enhance protective factors for teachers’ professional wellbeing at school by reinforcing their individual resources and coping strategies, which can help them deal with challenging situations.

Despite growing interest in evaluating the social and emotional learning of students and the development of standardized assessment tools for this purpose, there remains a dearth of validated instruments for evaluating teachers’ social and emotional skills. We set out to address this knowledge gap by investigating the psychometric characteristics of the Social-Emotional Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SECTRS) questionnaire, an instrument originally developed and validated in North America. Participants were 572 teachers from Italy (n=324), Latvia (n=139), and Portugal (n=109) ranging from 40 to 59 years of age. We performed confirmatory factor analysis procedures to validate a four-factor model measuring Teacher-student relationships, Emotion regulation, Social awareness, and Interpersonal relationships. The data supported this factorial structure, with a total of 14 items included in the final model. The outcomes of a multi-group comparison indicated that the model exhibited partial invariance, up to and including metric invariance, across the three cultural settings. We discuss these findings in relation to selecting appropriate instruments for assessing the social and emotional skills of teachers in different cultural contexts.

Although children use social and emotional learning skills (SEL) across the world, the expression of these skills may vary across cultures and developmental levels. Such variability complicates the process of assessing SEL competencies with consequences for understanding differences in SEL skills and developing interventions. To address these challenges, the current study examined the measurement invariance of translated versions of a brief, multi-informant (Teacher, Parent, Student) measure of SEL skills developed in the US with data from six European countries (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, and Romania; n = 10,602; 8,520; 6,611, for the SSIS SELb - Teacher, Parent, and Student versions, respectively). In addition to cross-country invariance testing, we conducted measurement invariance testing across ages (Primary and Secondary students) for the Teacher and Student forms of the measure. Results revealed a high degree of measurement invariance across countries (Scalar for the Teacher form and Partial Scalar for the Parent and Student form) and developmental levels (Scalar for the Teacher form and Partial Scalar for the Student form), supporting the use of translated versions of the SSIS SELb for international research across these countries and developmental levels. Implications are discussed for assessment and promoting children's SEL competencies globally.

Adolescence is a critical stage marked by identity formation and social challenges, especially for adolescents with migratory backgrounds who must reconcile their ethnic identities with the dominant culture. This study explores the mental health, life satisfaction, student–teacher relationship, and academic achievement of Italian-born, second-generation, and first-generation immigrants. The sample of 680 adolescents (M = 382; F = 280; Prefer not to say = 18; Mean age = 16.77 years) includes native-born Italians (n = 244), second-generation immigrants (n = 210), and first-generation immigrants (n = 226). Data were collected using self-report measures for mental health, life satisfaction, student–teacher relationship, and school achievement. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance identified significant group differences, followed by post-hoc tests to further explore differences between the groups. Second-generation immigrants reported significantly lower emotional well-being compared to their Italian-born peers. Both first- and second-generation immigrants exhibited lower life satisfaction, particularly in peer relationships. In terms of student–teacher relationship, second-generation immigrants perceived higher levels of school danger compared to Italian-born adolescents, possibly driven by discrimination. Academic outcomes revealed significant disparities, with Italian-born students outperforming second-generation immigrants, highlighting the impact of acculturative and bicultural stress. The findings highlight the unique challenges second-generation immigrants face in Italy in balancing cultural integration with preserving their heritage.

IntroductionTeachers' wellbeing plays a critical role in their overall job satisfaction, motivation, and effectiveness in building supporting learning environments. In today's dynamic educational settings, where teachers often face numerous challenges and stressors, their wellbeing becomes increasingly vital. Consequently, there is an urgent need to innovate and develop targeted training interventions that can support specifically the wellbeing of educators.MethodsThis study sought to provide an overview of the “Online Wellbeing Course - OWC,” a serious game developed to enhance teachers' wellbeing, and to investigate the participants' feedback after being engaged in the OWC, utilizing a qualitative approach through focus group discussions. A total of 189 in-service teachers took part in the study. To qualitatively explore their experiences with the OWC, participants were involved in focus groups and asked to provide feedback about how and to what extent the course was beneficial for their wellbeing.ResultsTeachers reported enhancements in areas such as emotional competence, self-care strategies, social awareness, relationship skills, decision-making, and school climate.DiscussionThese outcomes suggested the potential of serious games as an innovative training approach for supporting teachers' wellbeing, offering valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and educators.

Basic aim of newly created PROMEHS curriculum is to strengthen socio-emotional well-being, resilience and mental health of students aged from 3 to 18 years. Starting from the whole-school approach, its task was also to have positive impact on teachers’ mental health what was explored in this study regarding PROMEHS implementation in Croatia and Romania. Based on the quasi-experimental design, data was collected during pre-and post-test phases of the PROMEHS curriculum implementation in experimental and control group, for both countries. The experimental group was engaged in PROMEHS education, i.e. 16 hours training, and control group was not. In-service teachers from preschool to secondary education from Croatia and Romania (N=97 in pre-test and N=97 in post-test; N=83 control and N=97 experimental group), completed the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy (short form), the Connor Davidson Resilience (CD 10), and the Social and Emotional Competence of Teachers (SECTRS). No significant differences were determined between those two groups in pre-test. However, after teachers’ training, experimental group of teachers showed statistically higher levels of their self-efficacy, resilience and socio-emotional competencies than control group. Since these significant differences have been found only in experimental and not control group between pre- and post-test, the determined differences could be attributed only to the PROMEHS training effect. Even though the burnout level was lower in experimental group than in control after teachers’ training, it was not determined as significant difference in the analysis. The findings are discussed within the frame of PROMEHS teachers’ training contribution and the need for its sustainability.

Alexithymia refers to an ineffectiveness in identifying feelings and emotions and their communication. In adolescence, it has been identified as a significant predictor of emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety, especially in girls, and it is generally associated with higher levels of physical and verbal aggression. We investigated the association between alexithymia and the tendency to engage in aggressive or prosocial behaviour in bullying situations and how this relationship may be affected by adolescents’ anxiety and resilience. A sample of 884 female adolescents (mean age = 16.2) completed three quantitative self-report measures of alexithymia, roles in bullying situations, and levels of anxiety and resilience. Three groups were created based on the alexithymia scores: high alexithymia, borderline, and no alexithymia. A multiple analysis of covariance was conducted to evaluate the associations among the variables. The MANCOVA showed that participants in the high-alexithymia group were less prone to adopt prosocial roles and more likely to play victim and outsider roles than those in the borderline and no-alexithymia groups. Furthermore, these results varied as a function of anxiety and resilience. Our study contributes in deepen the association between alexithymia and the tendency to act hostile, prosocial, or indifferent behaviours in emotionally charged situations in a particular developmental period when emotional regulation strategies, especially in girls, are put to the test. This could have important implications from the point of view of preventing the chronic development of antisocial behaviour as the preferred choice for dealing with emotionally stressing situations.

There is compelling evidence that early school intervention programs enhance children's development of life skills, with a positive knock-on effect on their behaviors and academic outcomes. To date, most universal interventions have displayed gains in children's social-emotional competencies with a limited reduction in problem behaviors. This may depend on programs' curricula focused to a greater extent on preschoolers' social-emotional competencies rather than problem behaviors. Promoting Mental Health at Schools (PROMEHS) is a European, school-based, universal mental health program explicitly focused on both promoting students' mental health and preventing negative conduct by adopting a whole-school approach. In this study, we set out to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for Italian and Portuguese preschoolers. We recruited 784 children (age range = 4-5 years), assigning them to either an experimental group (six months' participation in the PROMEHS program under the guidance of their teachers, who had received ad hoc training) or a waiting list group (no intervention). We found that PROMEHS improved preschoolers' social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies, prosocial behavior, and academic outcomes. The more practical activities were carried out at school, the more children's SEL competencies increased, and the more their internalizing and externalizing behaviors decreased. Furthermore, marginalized and disadvantaged children were those who benefited most from the program, displaying both greater improvements in SEL and more marked decreases in internalizing problems compared to the rest of the sample.

In the last two years, a growing number of studies have focused on the promotion of students’ mental health to address the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less studies have been conducted on sustaining teachers’ mental health which has been affected by the sudden changes in online teaching and the difficulties in keeping and building relationship with students. Even before the pandemic, teaching has long been recognised as one of the most challenging occupations characterized by high levels of stress. Although the research highlighted the key role of mental health promotion among teachers, there is still a lack of programs enhancing teachers’ wellbeing. This study examined the impact of the PROMEHS program, a school-based curriculum, on teachers’ mental health. A total of 687 teachers participated in the study. Applying a pre- and post-training study design with experimental and waiting list groups, teachers were evaluated in social and emotional learning, resilience, and self-efficacy. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in all competences of the teachers in the experimental group compared to those in the waiting list group. The paper discusses the implications of the findings with recommendations for further studies in the area. Keywords: PROMEHS, teachers’ mental health, social and emotional learning, resilience, self-efficacy

The well-being of teachers is a critical concern with significant implications for teaching effectiveness and student outcomes. However, there exists a notable gap in the literature concerning the well-being of pre-service teachers. Moreover, there is a scarcity of research focusing on the unique challenges faced by prospective special education teachers. This study addresses this dual gap by exploring the well-being of pre-service special education teachers and its relationship with self-efficacy and work commitment. Data was collected from a sample of 133 preservice teachers (mean age = 38,14; sd = 8.25 years) enrolled in a professional course for high school special education teachers. Employing cluster analysis, three distinct profiles based on mental health, perceived stress, and resilience z-scores were identified. We further explored how the identified well-being profiles related to self-efficacy and work engagement. The findings provide valuable insights on improving educational policies, personalized teacher training programs, and early support structures to nurture educators’ well-being and equip them with the skills necessary to navigate the complex landscape of special education. Keywords: teachers’ well-being, mental health, self-efficacy, work engagement, cluster analysis

IntroductionResearch has highlighted the relevance of socio-emotional competence in buffering the harmful impacts of perceived stress on the psychological facets of the teaching profession. The purpose of this paper is to innovatively investigate the relationships between perceived stress, work engagement, and burnout in a single comprehensive model, when considering the potential role that socio-emotional competence plays in mitigating the adverse impact of perceived stress on burnout.MethodsA total of 276 Italian in-service teachers (mean age = 46.6 ± 9.9 years) completed quantitative self-report measures of perceived stress, socio-emotional competence, work engagement, and burnout. Data were analyzed by using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.ResultsAll fit indexes supported the model's full acceptance and suggested that teachers' socio-emotional competence reduced the effect of perceived stress on the risk of burnout by increasing their level of work engagement.DiscussionThe implications of the findings are discussed in terms of promoting interventions that target not only stress reduction but also foster teachers' socio-emotional competence in order to maintain a good level of work engagement and reduce the effect of stress on burnout.

IntroductionDespite increasing interest in measuring social and emotional learning (SEL), there is a lack of European-validated tools for assessing the efficacy of SEL programs. The aim of this study was to validate an Italian version of the social skills improvement system (SSIS) SEL brief scales–student form.MethodsParticipants were 1,175 students (mean age: 11.02 years; SD: 2.42; range: 8–16 years; males: 46.8%) recruited at schools in Northern Italy.Statistical analyses and resultsInitial confirmatory factor analysis encountered a series of challenges, implying non-convergence of the original five-factor measurement model (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making) based on the Collaborative on Academic Social Emotional Learning (CASEL) competency framework established with students in the United States. Further exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported a four-factor model that remained partially invariant across gender groups. The Italian version of the SSIS SEL brief scales was thus shown to be an efficient measurement tool for estimating social and emotional learning in students.DiscussionWe discuss the implications of findings in relation to selecting valid and reliable instruments for assessing children’s and adolescents’ SEL competencies, while considering the culturally-situated nature of the constructs under study.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and resilience in explaining mental health in male and female adolescents, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three self-report questionnaires were administered to 778 participants aged between 11 and 16 years (mean age = 12.73 years; SD = 1.73) and recruited from 18 schools in Northern Italy. The SSIS-SELb-S and the CD-RISC 10 assessed SEL and resilience skills respectively, while the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to measure mental health in terms of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. We found that SEL and resilience skills were positively and significantly associated with each other, negatively associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, and positively related to prosocial behavior. Three linear regression analyses showed the significant role of resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of internalizing problems; the significant role of SEL skills, resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of externalizing problems; and the role of SEL skills, age, and gender in explaining prosocial behavior. Importantly, we found that resilience fully mediated the relationship between SEL skills and internalizing problems, partially mediated the relationship between SEL skills and externalizing problems and didn't mediate the relationship between SEL skills and prosocial behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study as well as its practical implications.

The SSIS SEL Brief Scales (SSIS SELb) are multi-informant (teacher, parent, and student) measures that were developed to efficiently assess the SEL competencies of school-age youth in the United States. Recently, the SSIS SELb was translated into multiple languages for use in a multi-site study across six European countries (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, and Romania). The purpose of the current study was to examine concurrent and predictive evidence for the SEL Composite scores from the translated versions of the SSIS SELb Scales. Results indicated that SSIS SELb Composite scores demonstrated expected positive concurrent and predictive relationships with scores from the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and negative relationships with scores from the problem behavior scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Although there were a few exceptions, these patterns generally were consistent across informants (parents, teachers, and students) and samples providing initial validity evidence for the Composite score from the translated versions of the SSIS SELb Scales. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

We investigated early-childhood teachers' emotion socialization practices via a multi-method study that combined self-report measures and structured observational situations at day care centre. Eighty-nine teachers (Mage = 38.29 years; SD = 11.06) completed two questionnaires about their emotion socialization style and beliefs about emotions, respectively. A subsample of 40 teachers also participated in two experimental situations designed for observing their responses to children's emotional distress. We developed an innovative coding system for classifying teachers' reactions in terms of focus (problem, emotion, solution, time) and style (coaching, dismissing, and amplifying, a new style we detected). All teachers deployed a variety of emotion socialization practices. Coaching reactions (especially emotion-focused) were the most frequent, followed by dismissing (problem- and emotion-focused responses) and, to a lesser extent, amplifying responses (mainly problem-focused). There were significant associations between the self-report scores and the responses observed in the experimental situations. We discuss the educational implications of these findings.