Survey data of social, emotional, and behavioral skills among seven independent samples

Success in life is influenced by more than cognitive ability and opportunity. Success is also influenced by social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills: a person’s capacities to maintain social relationships, regulate emotions, and manage goal- and learning-directed behaviors. In this article, we propose an integrative model that defines SEB skills as capacities (what someone is capable of doing) rather than personality traits (what someone tends to do) and identifies five major skill domains: social engagement, cooperation, self-management, emotional resilience, and innovation. We then argue that operational measures of SEB skills should reflect rather than obscure the distinction between skills and traits. Finally, we propose an agenda for future work by highlighting open questions and hypotheses about the assessment, development, and outcomes of SEB skills as well as interventions and public policy targeting these skills.

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Students With Emotional–Behavioral Disorders as Cross-Age Tutors: A Synthesis of the Literature

Behavioral Disorders ◽

10.1177/0198742918771914 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 131-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gavin W. Watts ◽

Diane Pedrotty Bryant ◽

Megan L. Carroll

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Disorders ◽

Behavioral Outcomes ◽

Emotional Behavioral Disorders ◽

Future Research ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Cross Age Tutoring ◽

Quantitative Synthesis ◽

Age Model ◽

The Cross

The purpose of this quantitative synthesis was to evaluate the effectiveness and related outcomes of the cross-age tutoring model when students with or at risk for emotional–behavioral disorders (EBD) serve as tutors. Research questions were posed to identify the shared and unique components (e.g., dosage, tutor training) of the cross-age tutoring model; the extent to which students with EBD can effectively serve as cross-age tutors (i.e., fidelity of implementation and tutees’ improvement); the extent to which the model was effective in promoting desired academic and/or social–emotional–behavioral outcomes for tutees and tutors with EBD; the generalization, maintenance, and social validity of the effects; and the overall methodological quality and rigor of the included studies. Findings showed common training and instructional components across interventions and that tutors with EBD can implement cross-age tutoring procedures with fidelity. The cross-age model was shown to be effective in promoting academic and social–behavioral skills for the tutees as well as the tutors. Evidence for effectiveness in improving self-concept and attitude of the tutor with EBD was inconsistent. Implications and future research considerations are discussed.

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An Integrative Framework for Conceptualizing and Assessing Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills: The BESSI

10.31234/osf.io/8m34z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher J. Soto ◽

Christopher Napolitano ◽

Madison Nicole Sewell ◽

Heejun Roy Yoon ◽

Brent Roberts

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Well Being ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Emotional Resilience ◽

Psychological Constructs ◽

Integrative Framework ◽

Using Data

People differ in their social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills: their capacities to maintain social relationships, regulate emotions, and manage goal- and learning-directed behaviors. In five studies using data from seven independent samples (N = 6,309), we address three key questions about the nature, structure, assessment, and outcomes of SEB skills. First, how can SEB skills be defined and distinguished from other kinds of psychological constructs, such as personality traits? We propose that SEB skills represent how someone is capable of thinking, feeling, and behaving when the situation calls for it, whereas traits represent how someone tends to think, feel, and behave averaged across situations. Second, how can specific SEB skills be organized within broader domains? We find that many skill facets can be organized within five major domains representing Social Engagement, Cooperation, Self-Management, Emotional Resilience, and Innovation Skills. Third, how should SEB skills be measured? We develop and validate the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI) to measure individuals’ capacity to enact specific behaviors representing 32 skill facets. We then use the BESSI to investigate the nomological network of SEB skills. We show that both skill domains and facets converge in conceptually meaningful ways with socioemotional competencies, character and developmental strengths, and personality traits, and predict consequential outcomes including academic achievement and engagement, occupational interests, social relationships, and well-being. We believe that this work provides the most comprehensive model currently available for conceptualizing SEB skills, as well as the most psychometrically robust tool available for assessing them.

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Interventions for Young Children With and at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Intervention in School and Clinic ◽

10.1177/1053451217702110 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

pp. 183-187

Author(s):

Kristin L. Withey

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Young Children ◽

Behavioral Interventions ◽

Emotional And Behavioral Disorders ◽

Current Model ◽

Early Childhood Classroom ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Life Success ◽

A Current

Social-emotional and behavioral skills are essential to school and life success. Some young children, though, demonstrate significant delays in these areas. While there is a current hierarchical model of behavioral interventions for young children, it is lacking explicit interventions to be implemented in the early childhood classroom. This column suggests an intervention continuum to be used that extends beyond the current model, providing a matrix that aligns social-emotional or behavioral skills with specific interventions shown to be effective for students who fall under other disability labels.

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Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders as Tutors

Intervention in School and Clinic ◽

10.1177/10534512211024934 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 105345122110249

Author(s):

Gavin W. Watts ◽

Joel C. Kerr

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Disorders ◽

Emotional And Behavioral Disorders ◽

Special Educator ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Tutoring Programs ◽

Lead Article ◽

Effective Planning ◽

Students With Ebd

Teachers implementing tutoring programs in which their students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) serve as cross-age tutors (CAT-EBD) for younger students in need of additional instruction have reported improvements in academic, social-emotional, and behavioral skills for both tutees and tutors. This practitioner-lead article features firsthand experiences and insights from a special educator implementing such a program. In addition to identifying the perceived strengths, challenges, and overall outcomes of a CAT-EBD program, the experiences within the case study highlight connections and recommendations for effective planning, training, supervising, and supporting of students with EBD as tutors. Practical strategies are provided in support of the challenges identified in implementing and sustaining a CAT-EBD program.

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Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills: An Integrative Model of the Skills Associated With Success During Adolescence and Across the Life Span

Frontiers in Education ◽

10.3389/feduc.2021.679561 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher M. Napolitano ◽

Madison N. Sewell ◽

Hee J. Yoon ◽

Christopher J. Soto ◽

Brent. W. Roberts

Keyword(s):

Social Engagement ◽

Integrative Model ◽

Self Management ◽

Management Innovation ◽

Life Outcomes ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Emotional Resilience ◽

Social Transitions ◽

Wide Range

Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills encompass a wide range of competencies related to how individuals build and maintain relationships, understand and manage emotions, pursue goals, and learn from experience. Despite near-consensus on the importance of SEB skills for success in life, there are numerous frameworks that simultaneously converge and diverge in how they define and measure SEB skills. In this article, we discuss our integrative model encompassing five broad skill domains: Self-Management, Innovation, Social Engagement, Cooperation, and Emotional Resilience Skills (Soto et al., 2021a). Our model defines SEB skills as skills (i.e., what someone is capable of doing) and not traits (i.e., what someone tends to do). Using this definition and model as a foundation, we argue for the importance of investigating SEB skill development during adolescence, a period where SEB skills may be both particularly amenable to change and particularly predictive of life outcomes. In particular, we highlight how SEB skills allow adolescents to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded to them as they make major cognitive and social transitions.

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Schools as Centers for Behavioral Learning

Unconditional Education ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190886516.003.0009 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Robin Detterman ◽

Jenny Ventura ◽

Lihi Rosenthal ◽

Ken Berrick

Keyword(s):

Learning Theory ◽

Challenging Behavior ◽

Student Behavior ◽

Local Context ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Human Relationships ◽

Behavioral Learning ◽

School Communities ◽

Real People

Organizing for effective change requires an understanding both of formal systems and of intimate human relationships. It requires that efforts be intentionally embedded within local context while remaining attuned to the human dynamics that breathe life into these very communities. Chapter 2 proposed that true educational reform requires deep and sustained systems-level change. Chapter 3 explored the impact that relationships have on the sense of connection, trust, and vulnerability necessary for the transformative process. Building on a systems-level lens and an investment in human relationships, this chapter will explore the tenets of behavioral learning theory to better understand how behavior change contributes to transformation within students and school communities. Changing behavior is difficult; it is a slow, often circuitous, journey. It requires real people, with their own personal preferences and habits, to change behaviors that they may have grown strongly accustomed to overtime. What’s more, school professionals responsible for shaping the behavior of others within the education setting often lack the foundational knowledge and skills to do so. In the process of reshaping student behavior and inspiring adult learning, educators frequently start with ambitious goals that lack a clearly articulated plan for promoting the changes necessary to achieve them. Without a roadmap, it is commonplace for educators to become convinced that efforts at change are going nowhere, to lose hope or give up along the way, and tell themselves that “we just can’t help this difficult student” or “this schoolwide initiative won’t work here.” This chapter proposes that the principles of behavioral learning theory can be applied to (1) teach students the social-emotional skills they need to become successful scholars and citizens and (2) build the capacity of adults to improve the overall culture and climate of a school campus. Guided by the tenets of behavioral learning theory we ask the following questions: How do we approach challenging behavior as an opportunity to engage with students and build new behavioral skills? How do we create proactive discipline systems with the explicit purpose of creating a sense of predictability, consistency, and equity?

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