Integrating Health and Educational Perspectives to Promote Preschoolers' Social and Emotional Learning: Development of a Multi-Faceted Program Using an Intervention Mapping Approach.

Claire Blewitt,Helen Skouteris,Andrea Nolan,Amanda O’Connor,Aya Mousa,Heidi Bergmeier,Kylie Jackson,Helen Barrett,Heather Morris

doi:10.3390/ijerph17020575

Abstract

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can strengthen the social and emotional skills that are crucial for children’s ongoing development. With research highlighting an increasing prevalence of emotional and behavioural challenges in young children, there is emphasis on embedding teaching practices and pedagogies to support social and emotional skills within early learning programs. A growing body of research has examined the impact of social and emotional learning programs in ECEC; however, few studies describe the intervention development process, or how educators and other professionals were engaged to increase the relevance and feasibility of the program. The current paper describes the development of the Cheshire Social-Emotional Engagement and Development (SEED) Educational Program, an online learning tool to support early childhood educators to foster children’s positive mental health. Cheshire SEED was designed using five steps of the Intervention Mapping methodology: (i) comprehensive needs assessment to create a logic model of the problem; (ii) creation of program outcomes and change objectives mapped against determinants of educator behaviour; (iii) co-design of theory-based methods and practical strategies; (iv) program development; and (v) adoption and implementation planning. The process and decisions at each step of the IM protocol are presented, and the strengths and limitations of the approach to develop a mental health intervention for ECEC settings are discussed.

Highlights

Social and emotional competence in early childhood is an important predictor of ongoing health and wellbeing [1]
Regulation, assessment and quality improvement for Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is guided by the National Quality Standard [52], with early years services rated against seven quality areas: educational program and practice, children’s health and safety, physical environment, staffing arrangements, relationships with children, collaborative partnerships with families and communities, and governance and leadership
Educator practice and decision-making is influenced by beliefs and experiences, in addition to theories studied during pre-service training and other learning opportunities that resonate with those beliefs and experiences [64]

Summary

Introduction

Social and emotional competence in early childhood is an important predictor of ongoing health and wellbeing [1]. The cognitive and language abilities that emerge during this period support children to understand and regulate their emotion, attention, and behaviour, equipping them to form pro-social relationships and engage in learning [2,3,4]. Difficulties in early social-emotional development can impair behaviour and functioning across family, school, and other. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 575; doi:10.3390/ijerph17020575 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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