Socio-emotional competencies play an essential role in personal development as they are associated with highly prosocial behavior and low aggressiveness. An individual who is online manages his/her emotions in a specific manner. Thus, it is highly relevant to analyze and evaluate online socio-emotional competencies. Until now, however, no instruments had been defined or developed for that purpose. This study’s objective was thus to design and validate a questionnaire for the evaluation of socio-emotional competencies in virtual contexts, and to analyze eventual differences according to gender and academic year. Using the model developed by Bisquerra and Pérez (2007) as a theoretical framework, the competencies posited therein were transferred to an online environment. The questionnaire was filled out by 888 adolescents ages 12 to 17 (48% males, M = 13.83 years old, DT = 1.27), all residents of Aragón, Spain. On the basis of their responses, structure analysis, validation, and reliability were carried out. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yielded a five-dimensional structure with good fit and internal consistency. The five resulting dimensions evaluate (1) emotional e-conscience, (2) emotional e-autonomy, (3) emotional e-regulation, (4) e-self-control of impulsiveness, and (5) social e-competency. Differences among genders were observed in the categories of emotional e-conscience and social e-competency. Furthermore, the results of this study show that online emotional expression does not imply emotional competency. These results represent an advance in the field of emotional education.

Background: To mitigate or prevent the effects of cyberbullying, adolescents are primarily influenced by how they have been educated and supervised at home in the use of technology.Objective: Our main objective was to examine the association of parental phubbing and family supervision of Internet and social networks use with cyberbullying victimization and aggression.Method: A survey was conducted to examine these factors in a sample of 1,554 students aged 10 to 18 years in the Aragon region of Spain.Results: Family supervision is a protective factor against becoming an aggressor or a victim of cyberbullying. Aggressor and victim roles correlate with higher levels of parental phubbing. Multigroup analysis applying structural equation modeling by age and gender revealed certain differences. Gender differences were found with parental phubbing associated with boys' likelihood of being aggressors. Although family supervision protected both boys and girls, there was a stronger association for girls' parents. Fewer differences were observed for age group.Conclusion: This study found strong relation between cyberbullying, family supervision, and parental phubbing. Our findings also suggest that cyberbullying prevention strategies need to differ depending on whether they are applied to girls or boys.Implications: The importance of model behavior for minors to follow in their optimal use of information and communication technologies and family supervision of smartphone use should be placed at the center of cyberbullying prevention strategies.

During adolescence, the Internet is mainly used for purposes of socialization. Non-verbal elements limit online communication, thus leading to widespread use of emotional resources. It would be preferable if virtual interaction did not reduce the quality of person-to-person contacts, particularly thanks to the adoption of netiquette (respectful treatment of others online). Phubbing, the tendency to check one’s mobile phone during a face-to-face conversation, has become a widespread practice that causes anxiety and can lead to social exclusion. Educating on this behavior could be related with emotional content and with netiquette. This study’s objectives are to analyze the extent to which the use of netiquette and online emotional content are associated with and can predict phubbing, taking gender differences into account. 935 adolescents (ages 12–17, 55,1% female) from 13 schools in the region of Aragon (Spain) responded to our questionnaire. Results are revealing: the level of online emotional content increases the level of phubbing; online emotional expression is the most influential risk factor in both genders; netiquette protects girls to a greater degree. We discuss the educational challenges posed by guaranteeing the responsible use of social networks.