This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a physical-sport education pilot programme on adolescents’ subjective well-being (health-related quality of life, positive affect and negative affect), trait emotional intelligence and social anxiety. The programme was based on the pedagogical sport education model within a quality physical education framework, and approached from the perspective of social and emotional learning. Participants were 113 compulsory secondary education students aged 12–15 years that were assigned to a control group (n = 44) and an experimental group (n = 69). A quasi-experimental design with repeated pre-test and post-test measures was used. Bonferroni correction was applied for multiple comparisons. The preliminary results obtained in this investigation revealed that the physical-sport education pilot programme promoted significant improvements in a specific indicator of subjective well-being and trait emotional intelligence in the experimental group. These encouraging findings support the pedagogical efficiency of the programme with regard to the programme aim. The findings also highlight the feasibility and appropriateness of the programme in terms of an innovative teaching proposal.

The aim of this work is to extend the research on the relationships between emotional intelligence and various indicators of subjective well-being in adolescents, such as stress and social anxiety. The existence of differences in stress and social anxiety as a function of an emotional intelligence score is also analyzed. A total of 505 Spanish adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 participated in the study. The results obtained support the existence of a positive relationship between trait emotional intelligence and subjective well-being. Likewise, the existence of a negative association between emotional intelligence and stress, and emotional intelligence and social anxiety, is confirmed. These results are consistent with other similar works based on adolescent samples.

Trait Emotional intelligence (Trait EI) can be understood as a personality trait related to individual differences in recognition, processing, and the regulation of emotionally charged information. Trait EI has been considered a variable of great importance in determining psychosocial adjustment. However, most research on Trait EI has focused on adult and adolescent populations, while very few studies have explored its influence on children. The aim of this study was to analyze possible pathways into psychosocial adjustment in children by examining the combined effects of Trait EI and emotional and social problems. It also aimed to assess the possible mediating role of gender in this relationship. A total of 268 Spanish children participated in this study, ranging in age from 8 to 12 years (mean age = 10.09, SD = 1.32, 45.10% male). Selected measures were applied through a web-based survey called DetectaWeb. The regression and mediation/moderation analyses confirmed that psychosocial adjustment in children was determined by Trait EI directly and by emotional and social problems in an indirect way. Together, the three variables explained 46% of the variance in psychosocial adjustment, although Trait EI was the most powerful predictor (44%), demonstrating incremental validity over and above social and emotional problems. In addition, gender was shown to be a moderating variable between Trait EI and psychosocial adjustment; for girls specifically, lower Trait EI scores were a determinant of lower levels of psychosocial adjustment, regardless of emotional and social problems. It can be concluded that the identified pathways provide keys for emotional education interventions aimed at promoting psychosocial adjustment, well-being, and good mental health among children. Our findings support the buffer role of Trait EI against maladjustment risk in children, but more clearly in girls.

The aim of this study is to experimentally assess the effects of an intervention program through a video game called “Aislados” for the improvement of subjective well-being, mental health and trait emotional intelligence of a sample of adolescents (n = 187). We used well-established measures with appropriate psychometric properties. The study used a quasi-experimental design of pre-test/post-test repeated measurements with a control group. First, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and then descriptive analyses and variance analyses (ANOVAs) were carried out by the adolescents randomly assigned to the experimental and control conditions. Then, a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed on the study’s variables as a whole. Descriptive and covariance analyses of the post-test scores were carried out (ANCOVAs post-test, co-varying pre-test scores), in order to demonstrate the impact of the program. The effect size was reckoned (Cohen’s d). The results confirm statistically-significant differences in: Health-Related Quality of life, positive affect and mental health. The study provides an effective intervention tool which has been experimentally validated. The overall results allow for emphasizing the importance of the implementation of programs aimed at encouraging social and emotional learning throughout adolescence as protective resources in fostering emotional and behavioral adjustment in adolescents.