The importance of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills is recognized worldwide, but their measurement has always been a challenge. The BESSI measures 32 SEB skills, divided into five domains (social engagement, cooperation, self-management, emotional resilience, and innovation), but its validity must be expanded to new languages and contexts. Across two studies (N₁ = 990, N₂= 824) we developed the Italian version of the BESSI, provided further support for its convergent and discriminant validity with the Big Five, and expanded its nomological network to procrastination, self-efficacy, and emotion regulation. The BESSI-I showed excellent internal reliability and satisfactory fit indices at the facet, domain, and overarching framework level. We also confirmed the correlations between the SEB skills and the Big Five personality traits and found meaningful correlations with the selected external outcomes. Overall, we confirm that the BESSI-I is a valid and useful instrument to assess SEB skills for research and clinical purposes.

Introduction: Transitioning from school to higher education or work is a pivotal moment in a student's life, requiring life‐changing decisions. During this period, students who have acquired a wide range of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral (SEB) skills may feel more confident regarding their capacity to adapt positively to future challenges and difficulties. Our study aimed to test whether five SEB skills domains (self‐management, innovation, social engagement, cooperation, and emotional resilience skills) were associated with four career adaptability resources (i.e., concern, control, curiosity, and confidence).Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 350 Italian students (143 boys; M_age = 16.65) at the end of their last or penultimate year of high school (May–June 2024). We ran a multivariate regression analysis to examine specific associations between SEB skills domains and career adaptability resources. Furthermore, we tested a structural equation model including a latent factor of career‐adaptability as the dependent variable, and SEB skills domains as predictors.Results: Our results showed that students who described themselves as more competent in self‐management, innovation, and social engagement skills reported higher levels of career adaptability (considering both the latent factor and the specific resources).Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of feeling competent in different domains, not just academics, as the perception of having tools and skills could make students more confident in their ability to face future challenges and adapt to their future careers.

The present study tested a comprehensive model in which five social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill domains (self-management, social engagement, cooperation, emotional resilience, and innovation; also known as “soft skills”) were associated with academic achievement and satisfaction directly and through the mediation of academic self-efficacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. The participants were 319 undergraduate students (mean age = 22.74, SD = 4.68; 255 females) from Spain, Italy, and Israel. Self-report questionnaires were administered for this study. Our results showed that academic self-efficacy and SRL significantly mediated the relationships between self-management and social engagement skills with academic achievement, after controlling for sex, age, year of study, and nationality. Academic self-efficacy uniquely mediated the relationship between SEB skills and academic achievement and satisfaction. Fostering socio-emotional skills can benefit students during higher education and lead to positive perceptions of themselves as competent and self-regulated learners, which can lead to greater academic satisfaction and achievement.

The academic challenges faced by students with neurodevelopmental disorders, including specific learning disorders (SLD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are reflected in learning processes and academic outcomes. This study examined associations between motivational and metacognitive factors and academic achievement among higher education students with and without SLD/ADHD from Israel, Italy, and Spain. Participants were 687 students, including 223 diagnosed with SLD/ADHD and 464 in a comparison group without disabilities. Academic self-efficacy (ASE), self-regulated learning (SRL), academic satisfaction, and achievement were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Students with SLD/ADHD reported lower achievement (i.e., average grade) as well as lower ASE and SRL than peers without disabilities, but no differences were found in academic satisfaction. Important, ASE and SRL fully mediated the relationship between SLD/ADHD and academic achievement. These findings highlight the critical role of motivational and metacognitive factors in promoting academic success among students with neurodevelopmental disorders in higher education.