SEL interventions for children in middle childhood begin to emphasize supporting children’s development of advanced interpersonal skills and self-control, rather than the more fundamental skill building focus of SEL programs in early childhood (Coelho & Sousa, 2017). It is important for children to have the competency to develop and maintain healthy relationships at school, as these are protective against substance abuse, aggressive behaviors, and both internalizing and externalizing disorders (Forster, Gribsby, Bunyan, Unger, & Valente, 2015). Programs designed for children in middle childhood typically focus on promoting one of three main competencies. These include promoting children’s interpersonal skills, reducing aggressive and violent
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Espelage, Low, Polanin, and Brown (2013) performed a study to assess the impact that a teacher-led SEL program, which aimed to promote empathy, communication, and problem-solving, had on preventing aggression, sexual violence, and victimization. They found that students in the intervention group reported a 42% reduction in physical aggression after 15-weeks of the intervention, as compared to baseline (Espelage et al., 2013). Thus, providing children with the skills to effectively communicate with peers and to solve problems can result in peer interactions less characterized by overt aggression. Jones, Brown, and Aber (2011) also studied the effects of a program that aimed to reduce children's aggressive behaviors called the 4Rs Program, which stands for Reading, Writing, Respect, and Resolution. In this program, children's literature that focused on themes, such as conflict, feelings, relationships, and community, were used to help students to become better able to manage their anger, to listen, to assert themselves, to cooperate, and to negotiate with others (Jones et al., 2011). They found that children in schools that received this intervention reported themselves as having reduced hostile attributional styles, aggressive interpersonal strategies, and depression. They also found that teachers in intervention schools reported children as …show more content…
Executive function is defined as “cognitive control abilities depending on the prefrontal cortex that organize, sequence, and regulate behaviors” and self-regulation is defined as “the ability to regulate resources in the service of achieving goals” (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015, p. 3). Schonert-Reichl et al. (2015) performed a study to examine whether a SEL intervention with a mindfulness component could improve fourth and fifth-grade students' cognitive control, stress levels, well-being, pro-social behaviors, and academic performance. Data was collected through executive functions, physiological measures, self-report measures, peer-report measures, and grades. They found that students who participated in the SEL intervention with a mindfulness component demonstrated greater improvements in cognitive control, stress physiology, empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, optimism, and pro-sociality than students in the SEL program without an emphasis on mindfulness. Furthermore, they found that children in the mindfulness intervention reported fewer symptoms of depression and peer-related aggression (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015). As such, mindfulness interventions are a promising method for promoting
Espelage, Low, Polanin, and Brown (2013) performed a study to assess the impact that a teacher-led SEL program, which aimed to promote empathy, communication, and problem-solving, had on preventing aggression, sexual violence, and victimization. They found that students in the intervention group reported a 42% reduction in physical aggression after 15-weeks of the intervention, as compared to baseline (Espelage et al., 2013). Thus, providing children with the skills to effectively communicate with peers and to solve problems can result in peer interactions less characterized by overt aggression. Jones, Brown, and Aber (2011) also studied the effects of a program that aimed to reduce children's aggressive behaviors called the 4Rs Program, which stands for Reading, Writing, Respect, and Resolution. In this program, children's literature that focused on themes, such as conflict, feelings, relationships, and community, were used to help students to become better able to manage their anger, to listen, to assert themselves, to cooperate, and to negotiate with others (Jones et al., 2011). They found that children in schools that received this intervention reported themselves as having reduced hostile attributional styles, aggressive interpersonal strategies, and depression. They also found that teachers in intervention schools reported children as …show more content…
Executive function is defined as “cognitive control abilities depending on the prefrontal cortex that organize, sequence, and regulate behaviors” and self-regulation is defined as “the ability to regulate resources in the service of achieving goals” (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015, p. 3). Schonert-Reichl et al. (2015) performed a study to examine whether a SEL intervention with a mindfulness component could improve fourth and fifth-grade students' cognitive control, stress levels, well-being, pro-social behaviors, and academic performance. Data was collected through executive functions, physiological measures, self-report measures, peer-report measures, and grades. They found that students who participated in the SEL intervention with a mindfulness component demonstrated greater improvements in cognitive control, stress physiology, empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, optimism, and pro-sociality than students in the SEL program without an emphasis on mindfulness. Furthermore, they found that children in the mindfulness intervention reported fewer symptoms of depression and peer-related aggression (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015). As such, mindfulness interventions are a promising method for promoting