Social Networks, Emotions, and Education: Design and Validation of e-COM, a Scale of Socio-Emotional Interaction Competencies among Adolescents

Ana Cebollero-Salinas,Santos Orejudo,Jacobo Cano-Escoriaza

doi:10.3390/su14052566

Abstract

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.

Highlights

This study’s objective was to design a tool that would evaluate socio-emotional competencies of individuals who interact with others online
The point of departure was the face-to-face socio-emotional competencies model propounded by [56], and four of these competencies were transferred to those behaviors that this research team views as adaptive in a virtual environment [32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44]
The items in the e-Competencies Scale (e-COM) questionnaire were designed on the basis of those competencies

Summary

Introduction

A number of socio-emotional education programs have been adopted with a special emphasis on adolescence, which is a key stage in the formation of an individual’s personality and identity [5]. Understanding socio-emotional competencies requires the analysis of different models of emotional intelligence. Some of these address intra-personal aspects such as recognizing, understanding, and dealing with emotions [4]; others include the social dimension of emotion and its interpersonal perspective, which integrates aspects such as empathy and social abilities [6], competencies for dealing with life challenges [7,8], and managing interpersonal relationships and learning to take adequate decisions [9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion