Adolescent Social and Emotional Development
Conditions
Keywords
Adolescents, Social and emotional development, Well-being, Belonging, Meaning in life, Emotional authenticity, Resilience
Brief summary
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Social and Emotional Developmental Support Program on adolescents' sense of belonging, meaning in life, emotional authenticity, well-being, and resilience. The study will be conducted with 9th-grade students studying in Defne district of Hatay, Türkiye, one of the regions affected by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023. A pre-test/post-test control group experimental design will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
Detailed description
This study aims to examine the effects of the Social and Emotional Developmental Support Program, which will be implemented with ninth-grade students studying in the Defne district of Hatay, on adolescents' sense of belonging, meaning in life, emotional authenticity, well-being, and resilience. The research will be carried out with adolescents living in Defne, one of the districts of Hatay most affected by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake that occurred in Türkiye on February 6, 2023. The study is designed as a pre-test/post-test control group experimental design. Participants will be randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group will receive the Social and Emotional Developmental Support Program, whereas no intervention will be provided to the control group during the study period. Data will be collected using a demographic information form and standardized instruments assessing adolescents' sense of belonging, meaning in life, emotional authenticity, well-being, and resilience. The findings are expected to contribute to the social and emotional development of adolescents affected by the earthquake and to enrich the existing body of literature.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSocial and Emotional Developmental Support Program
A structured program designed to promote adolescents' social and emotional development. The program includes interactive sessions aimed at enhancing belonging, meaning in life, emotional authenticity, well-being, and resilience. It will be implemented in a school setting through group-based activities and reflective discussions.
Sponsors
Hacettepe University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
Participants were not informed whether their school was assigned to the intervention or control condition.
Intervention model description
Participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups before baseline measurements. After the groups are determined, pre-test data will be collected from both groups. The Social and Emotional Developmental Support Program will be administered to the experimental group, while the control group will receive no intervention during the study period. Following the completion of the program, post-test data will be collected from both groups to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 15 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Adolescents aged between 14 and 15 years * Ninth-grade students enrolled in public high schools located in the Defne district of Hatay * Individuals who resided in the Defne district on February 6, 2023 * Students who voluntarily agree to participate and whose parental consent has been obtained * Students who are able to attend all program sessions regularly
Exclusion criteria
* Students who did not reside in the Defne district on February 6, 2023 * Students with special educational needs or those reported by school counselors or parents to have developmental or psychiatric diagnoses * Students who are simultaneously participating in another psychosocial intervention program * Students with cognitive limitations that prevent them from completing the study assessments
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The General Belongingness Scale | Baseline (pre-test) and after completion of the intervention (approximately 11 weeks). | Participants' sense of belonging will be assessed using the General Belongingness Scale. The General Belongingness Scale is answered on a four-point Likert scale with the options "(1) Strongly disagree, (2) Somewhat disagree, (3) Mostly agree, (4) Strongly agree." Six items represent the rejection/exclusion dimension, while the remaining six items reflect the acceptance/inclusion dimension. When all 12 items are evaluated together, a total belongingness score is obtained. In this context, higher total scores indicate higher levels of general belongingness among adolescents. |
| Meaning in Life Questionnaire | Baseline (pre-test) and after completion of the intervention (approximately 11 weeks). | Participants' perceived meaning in life will be assessed using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Higher scores on the Presence of Meaning subscale indicate that individuals perceive their lives as more meaningful and purposeful, whereas higher scores on the Search for Meaning subscale reflect greater efforts to find or develop meaning in life. When calculating the total score by reverse-coding the Search subscale, a higher overall score signifies a stronger sense of meaning in life. |
| Emotional Authenticity Scale | Baseline (pre-test) and after completion of the intervention (approximately 11 weeks). | Participants' emotional authenticity will be measured using the Emotional Authenticity Scale. The Emotional Authenticity Scale is a 20-item self-report measure assessing the extent to which individuals express their emotions in a genuine, coherent, and self-consistent manner. Items are rated on a 1-5 Likert scale. Five items from the "Acceptance of External Influence" subscale and seven items from the "Emotional Avoidance" subscale are reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate greater emotional authenticity. |
| EPOCH Well-being Scale | Baseline (pre-test) and after completion of the intervention (approximately 11 weeks). | Participants' well-being levels will be assessed using the EPOCH Well-Being Measure. The scale consists of five subscales and a total of 20 items. Higher scores on each subscale indicate a greater level of the specific characteristic assessed by that dimension. In addition, the scale provides an overall well-being score. During scoring, mean scores are calculated for each subscale as well as for the total scale. |
| Psychological Resilience Attitude and Skills Scale | Baseline (pre-test) and after completion of the intervention (approximately 11 weeks). | Participants' resilience levels will be measured using the Resilience Attitude and Skill Scale. It is a 34-item, single-factor measurement tool rated on a four-point Likert scale. There are no reverse-scored items in the scale. Higher scores indicate higher levels of psychological resilience. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed