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This study analyzes the mastery level of educators regarding eight socioformative pedagogical practices and their impact on the academic performance of their students, aiming to identify mediating factors within a longitudinal design framework. A total of 282 university teachers from Ecuador participated, with instruments applied at two points in time: during the pandemic and at its end. Convenience sampling was employed. The results indicate an acceptable level in the development of socioformative pedagogical practices among participants, as well as in their socio-emotional skills. Regression analysis revealed the influence of various variables on socioformative pedagogical practices, such as socio-emotional skills, continuous training, academic degree, and economic level. The structural equation model established a positive association between socioformative pedagogical practices assessed during the pandemic and the academic performance of students in terms of achieving learning outcomes evaluated one year after the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also found that socioformative pedagogical practices are influenced by socio-emotional skills. The conclusion is that teachers possess a medium level in the development of their pedagogical practices but need to strengthen them to achieve an advanced level through continuous training and by obtaining higher academic degrees. Moreover, enhancing socio-emotional skills is essential for improved performance.

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BACKGROUND: Emotion regulation skills form part of many interventions for youth with internalizing and externalizing difficulties. This pilot study examines a prevention program delivered at school to improve adolescents' emotion regulation skills, focusing on those at risk for mental health problems. METHODS: Adolescents 12-18 years old were referred to a six-session group program by their school counselors, based on inclusion criteria related to family sociodemographic and mental health characteristics. Group sessions took place during school hours to facilitate participation and reduce dropout. The intervention targeted emotion regulation skills, drawing from central components of different cognitive behavioral approaches. To assess clinical outcomes, participants answered questionnaires before and after the program, which covered emotion regulation strategies, addictive behaviors, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The acceptability of the program was also assessed. RESULTS: Emotion regulation skills improved after the program, and there was a significant reduction in internalizing and externalizing problems. The program was evaluated as useful by participants. Counsellors reported satisfaction with the program. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted emotion regulation skills training is a potentially useful transdiagnostic intervention to prevent mental health problems in youth. Bringing the intervention to the school setting and involving counsellors in referring at-risk students can facilitate uptake and reduce dropout.

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BACKGROUND: Socio-emotional skills are critical to life outcomes such as achievement, well-being and job success. However, existing research has mostly focused on the consequences of socio-emotional skills, with less attention devoted to the role of school climate in the deployment of these skills. AIMS: This study investigated the role of school climate in socio-emotional skills. More specifically, we investigated whether cooperative or competitive school climates are associated with students' socio-emotional skills. SAMPLE: Our study utilized data from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, collected from 10 cities across nine countries. Participants were 60,985 students, including 31,187 10-year-olds (49.70% females) and 29,798 15-year-olds (51.6% females). METHODS: We conducted multilevel structural equation modelling to test whether cooperative and competitive climates were associated with socio-emotional skills. These skills include five broad domain skills and 15 more specific skills: task performance (self-control, responsibility and persistence), emotion regulation (stress resistance, emotional control and optimism), collaboration (empathy, trust and cooperation), open-mindedness (tolerance, curiosity and creativity) and engaging with others (sociability, assertiveness and energy). RESULTS: Our findings indicated a positive relationship between a cooperative climate and socio-emotional skills. In contrast, the relationship between a competitive climate and socio-emotional skills was primarily negative. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the contrasting roles of cooperative and competitive climates in students' socio-emotional skills.

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BACKGROUND: The first 3 years of life are a critical period for the development of socio-emotional skills, highlighting the importance of socio-emotional development in early childhood. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a health promotion intervention program on the socio-emotional development of children aged 12 to 42 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A total of 344 children from 15 childcare centers participated in this study, with six centers in the intervention group and nine in the control group. Childcare teachers in the intervention group received a 6-month training program aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles, including topics such as diet, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Sociodemographic and anthropometric measures were assessed at baseline, and socio-emotional development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - Third Edition (Bayley-III) at baseline and post-intervention. RESULTS: After the intervention, a significant difference in socio-emotional development was observed between children with mothers of varying education levels. Specifically, children whose mothers had lower education levels demonstrated significantly greater socio-emotional development (B = 19.000, p = 0.028) compared to the control group. In contrast, there was no significant difference in socio-emotional development among children with mothers from higher education levels. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that intervention programs for childcare teachers can effectively promote healthy socio-emotional development in children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Future intervention programs should consider tailoring their approaches to target disadvantaged populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This cluster randomized controlled trial was registered in the Clinical Trials database/platform on 09/09/2019 (number NCT04082247).

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Introduction: Childhood is an important stage for socio-emotional development. Understanding the associations of lifestyle habits with the healthy development of social and emotional skills is crucial for better interventions early in life. This study aims to analyze the association between sleep and socio-emotional development in toddlers aged 12 to 36 months and examine whether weight mediated these associations. Methods: This study is part of a cluster randomized controlled trial developed in Portuguese childcare centers. A sample of 344 children (176 females) enrolled in the study. Participants' anthropometrics were measured while at childcare centers using standardized procedures. Body mass index (BMI) was computed as the body weight/height2 (kg/m2) ratio. Sleep quality was collected with the Tayside Children's Sleep Questionnaire, a 10-item scale that evaluates the child's ability to initiate and maintain sleep. Two additional questions regarding sleep duration were added. Parental questionnaires assessed the child's sex and date of birth, socioeconomic status, and total energy intake (TEI). Motor (fine and gross) was assessed using Bayley-III scales and socio-emotional (SE) by the Greenspan Social-Emotional Growth Chart questionnaire. Linear regression models were used to examine the associations between sleep (duration and quality) and SE with adjustments for sex, age, BMI, mothers' education, motor development, and TEI. Mediation analysis was conducted using path analysis. Results: SE development was significantly associated with nighttime sleep duration even when adjusted for confounders (ß = 0.223; 95% CI: 0.001, 0.004 and ß = 0.168; 0.0003, 0.003; respectively). Sleep quality was not significantly associated with SE development, and the weight did not explain the associations between sleep and SE development. Conclusion: This study supports that sleep duration is directly associated with SE development in toddlers. From a public health perspective, sleep duration should be prioritized in intervention programs to improve socio-emotional development early in life.

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Aging involves several changes depending on genetic and behavioral factors, such as lifestyle and the number and quality of social relationships, which in turn can be influenced by empathy. Here, the change in the perceived social support across the lifespan as a function of empathy was investigated, considering the mediating role of empathy after controlling for gender and education. In total, 441 people (18-91 years old) filled in the Italian short version of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12), the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6), as well as the Empathy Questionnaire (EQ), and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). The mediation analyses with ISEL-12 showed that age and the EQ fully mediated the relationship between age and appraisal, belonging, and tangible scores. Further, the EQ fully mediated only the relationship between age and SSQ6-People. These results showed that empathic skills are key in the relationships between age and social support. This suggests that empathy can trigger social support and, ultimately, well-being if stimulated across the lifespan, especially from a young age; this would help to form the socio-emotional competence across the years as a sort of cushion that can be useful in the older to fulfill active aging.

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OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the reciprocal associations between personality traits (conscientiousness and openness to experience) and academic achievement in adolescents, using the Personality Achievement Saturation Hypothesis (PASH). BACKGROUND: Personality traits, especially conscientiousness, and openness, have been identified as strong predictors of academic achievement. The PASH provides a framework for understanding these relationships but has mainly been studied from a unidirectional perspective. This study extends the PASH to examine reciprocal associations and how they vary with different achievement indicators. METHODS: Using large-scale panel data (N = 6482) of secondary school students in Germany, we applied cross-lagged panel models and latent change score models to examine the differential reciprocal associations between personality traits (conscientiousness/openness) and academic achievement (school grades/achievement test scores) in language and math over two years from grades 7 to 9. RESULTS: In line with the PASH, initial levels of conscientiousness were more strongly associated with school grades than with achievement test scores over two years. Simultaneously, prior school grades were more strongly associated with conscientiousness over two years. However, initial levels of openness did not show differential associations with either school grades or achievement test scores over two years. Similarly, prior school grades and achievement test scores were also not differentially associated with openness over two years. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings introduce an innovative lens through which we observe how the PASH can be leveraged to explain the differential reciprocal associations between conscientiousness and academic achievement. Further research is needed to examine if PASH could be similarly extended to disentangle the associations between openness and academic achievement.

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Socio-emotional skills can play a crucial role in students career development. This study used a person-centered approach to explore socio-emotional skills (curiosity, optimism, empathy, sociability, and responsibility) profiles among 8° grade students (N = 310). We also explored the relations of these profiles with career exploration (self and environmental), perceived parental support (emotional support, instrumental assistance, career-related modeling, and verbal encouragement) and school achievement. Using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), four distinct profiles emerged that differed in terms of level and shape, namely: Other and Task oriented profile, Socio-emotional Adaptive profile, Socio-emotional non-Adaptive profile, Self- Oriented profile. Our results show that the "Socio-emotional Adaptive" profile can be clearly differentiated from the "Socio-emotional non-Adaptive" profile given the higher values it presents regarding all the variables in study. However, the differences between the "Other and Task Oriented" profile and "Self-Oriented" profile (intermediate profiles) were analyzed and discussed from qualitative point-of-view and adopting an exploratory approach. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that socio-emotional profiles have the potential to account for variations in career behaviors and academic performance. These results provide valuable insights for the development and implementation of career-oriented interventions targeted at 8th grade students and their immediate relational environments.

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Based on the conceptualisation of the 21st Century Competencies Framework from the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR) we developed an online program to enable school-age students to increase their level on several social-emotional competencies. BE organized is a program that aims to help students to better organize themselves to be more efficient in today's and tomorrow's world. To do so, 12 individual sessions were designed to develop 4 out of the twelve 21st century competencies: Critical Thinking, Mindfulness, Resilience and Metacognition; collective sessions (action lab) to develop others such as Creativity. We used a mixed methodology, i.e., quantitative (two questionnaires) and qualitative (reflective questions) evaluation to test whether the targeted competencies have been developed during this program. Preliminary results (since it involves only a small number of participants, n = 27) partially confirm our hypotheses. Both qualitative and quantitative data show a development of critical thinking; the cross-sectional results are more mixed for the other three targeted competencies. Moreover, some other competencies, such as Creativity and Growth Mindset, seem to be developed during this program. However, it is difficult to determine whether it is the group and/or individual sessions that are responsible for these non-targeted competencies development. These results will be discussed in relation to the youth literature on 21st century competency and the broader literature on socio-emotional learning (SEL) and/or emotional intelligence (EI).

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In the project "Resilient Children", a resilience promotion program for kindergartens and elementary schools was directly applied and evaluated during the COVID-19-crisis.The aim of the study was to strengthen the three sources of resilience according to Grotberg (1995) I HAVE, I AM and I CAN through targeted exercises and resilience-promoting communication (transfer to everyday life). Additionally, gender differences with regard to the effect of the programme were addressed. "Resilient Children" was evaluated at the impact level (pre-post design) and process level. Eight kindergartens and three elementary schools with 125 children participated. A total of 122 teachers and 70 parents provided information about the children. The results at the impact level showed that from the parent and teacher perspective, and from the self-perspective (children), the three sources of resilience were significantly strengthened. With regard to gender differences, the results from the perspective of teachers and parents showed that girls were characterised by greater changes than boys. Compared to the girls, the physical andmental well-being of the boys improved fromthe parents' point of view. The results of the process evaluation revealed a high level of motivation and enthusiasm for participation in the programme on the part of participating children and teachers. The success of "Resilient Children" depends on the identification of the teachers with the program.

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As competências socioemocionais têm chamado a atenção de pesquisadores e programas de treinamento de habilidades socioemocionais têm sido desenvolvidos em muitos países. Este estudo teve como objetivo geral produzir normas para a escala de competências socioemocionais de estudantes universitários e analisar seu poder preditivo sobre o bem-estar subjetivo. A coleta foi realizada com uma amostra total de 1.020 estudantes de diversos cursos de graduação, de duas instituições de ensino particular do Distrito Federal. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados dois instrumentos. O primeiro foi a escala de competências socioemocionais para estudantes universitários, de Souza, Faiad e Rueda (2021), que realiza a investigação de seis fatores. O segundo instrumento, destinado a mensuração do bem-estar subjetivo, foi composto pela escala de afetos positivos e negativos, de Zanon e Hutz (2014) e a escala de satisfação com a vida, de Zanon, Bardagi, Layous e Hutz (2013). Para análise dos dados foram realizados cálculos de correlações de Pearson e análises de modelos de regressão linear múltipla. Quanto aos resultados, normas para fins de diagnóstico foram produzidas para a população geral. Os resultados mostraram também que a maioria dos fatores de competências socioemocionais para estudantes universitários se correlacionaram significativamente com bem-estar subjetivo e foram capazes de predizer o bem-estar subjetivo. Concluiu-se que a escala de competência socioemocionais de estudante universitários pode ser utilizada para fins de diagnóstico, principalmente por apresentar um estudo normativo.

Socio-emotional skills have attracted the attention of researchers and training programs for socio-emotional skills have been developed worldwide. The general objective of this study was to produce norms for the socio-emotional competence scale of university students, as well as to analyze its predictive power on subjective well-being. The collection was carried out with a total sample of 1,020 students from different undergraduate courses, from two private educational institutions in the Federal District, in Brazil. Two instruments were used for data collection. The first was the Social-emotional Skills Scale for University Students, by Souza et al. (2021), which carries out the investigation of six factors. The second instrument, designed to measure subjective well-being, was composed of the Positive and Negative Affects Scale, by Zanon and Hutz (2014) and the Life Satisfaction Scale, by Zanon et al. (2013). For data analysis, calculations of Pearson correlations and analysis of multiple linear regression models were performed. As for the results, standards for diagnostic purposes were produced for the general population. The results also showed that most factors of socio-emotional competence for university students were significantly correlated with subjective well-being and others were able to predict subjective well-being. It is concluded that the Socio-emotional Competence Scale of University Students can be used for diagnostic purposes, mainly because it presents a normative study.

Las habilidades socioemocionales han llamado la atención de los investigadores y se han desarrollado programas de formación en habilidades socioemocionales en todo el mundo. El objetivo general de este estudio fue producir normas para la escala de competencia socioemocional de estudiantes universitarios, así como analizar su poder predictivo sobre el bienestar subjetivo. La recolección se realizó con una muestra total de 1.020 estudiantes de diferentes carreras de grado, de dos instituciones educativas privadas del Distrito Federal, en Brasil. Se utilizaron dos instrumentos para la recolección de datos. La primera fue la Escala de habilidades socioemocionales para estudiantes universitarios de Souza et al. (2021), que lleva a cabo la investigación de seis factores. El segundo instrumento, destinado a medir el bienestar subjetivo, estuvo compuesto por la Escala de afectos positivos y negativos, de Zanon y Hutz (2014) y la Escala de satisfacción con la vida, de Zanon et al. (2013). Para el análisis de datos, se realizaron cálculos de correlaciones de Pearson y análisis de modelos de regresión lineal múltiple. En cuanto a los resultados, se elaboraron estándares con fines diagnósticos para la población general. Los resultados también mostraron que la mayoría de los factores de competencia socioemocional para estudiantes universitarios se correlacionaron significativamente con el bienestar subjetivo y otros fueron capaces de predecir el bienestar subjetivo. Se concluye que la escala de competencia socioemocional de estudiantes universitarios puede ser utilizada con fines diagnósticos, principalmente porque presenta un estudio normativo.

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Students with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) can face elevated socio-emotional well-being challenges in addition to literacy challenges. We examined the prevalence of risk and resilience factors among adolescents with LBLD (N = 93), ages 16-18, and the association with reading performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected at the start and end of the first fully remote academic year of COVID-19 (2020-2021). Participants completed standardized word and text reading measures, as well as self-report surveys of executive functions (EF), and socio-emotional skills associated with resilience (grit, growth mindset, self-management, self-efficacy, and social awareness) or risk (anxiety, depression, COVID-19 related PTSD, and perceived COVID-19 impact). Survey data at the start of the school year (Time 1) captured three underlying factors associated with socioemotional risk, socioemotional resilience, and regulation (i.e., EF). Path analyses revealed that students' Time 2 oral reading scores were significantly and uniquely predicted by socioemotional resilience, even when controlling for word-level reading at Time 1. Socioemotional risk, EF, and perceived COVID-19 impact were not directly related to Time 2 oral reading scores; however, students' resilience mediated the associations between risk and reading outcomes. These results demonstrate that adolescents' mental health concerns, self-regulatory ability, and socioemotional resilience were all associated with their experiences of the COVID-19-related stress. However, despite the high-risk context of the pandemic, and socio-emotional challenges faced by students with LBLD, our findings indicate that resilience directly predicts end-of-year reading outcomes and mediates the impact of socioemotional risk on achievement. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11145-022-10361-8.

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Introduction: Emotional awareness and emotion regulation are crucial for cognitive and socio-emotional development in children. School-based interventions on socio-emotional skills have the potential to prevent these problems and promote well-being of children. The Japanese school-based program, Universal Unified Prevention Program for Diverse Disorders (Up2-D2), has shown preventive effects on mental health of children in Japan. The aims of this protocol paper are to describe the unique process of adapting the Up2-D2 from Eastern to Western context, and to present a feasibility study of the intervention, conducted in Finland. Methods: The cultural adaptation process started with the linguistic translation of materials, followed by the modification of language to fit the Finnish context. While the Japanese ideology was saved, some content was adapted to fit Finnish school children. Further modifications were made based on feedback from pupils and teachers. The Finnish version of the program was named "Let's learn about emotions" and consisted of 12 sessions and targeted 8- to 12-year-old pupils. A teacher education plan was established to assist Finnish teachers with the intervention, including a workshop, teachers' manual, brief introductory videos, and online support sessions. A feasibility study involving 512 4th graders in the City of Hyvinkää, South of Finland, was conducted. It assessed emotional and behavioral problems, classroom climate, bullying, loneliness, perception of school environment, knowledge of emotional awareness, and program acceptability. Discussion: The originality of this study underlies in the East-West adaptation of a cognitive behavioral therapy-based program. If promising feasibility findings are replicated in Finland, it could pave the way for further research on implementing such programs in diverse contexts and cultures, promoting coping skills, awareness, social skills and early prevention of child mental health problems. Ethics: The ethical board of the University of Turku gave ethics approval for this research. The educational board of the City of Hyvinkää accepted this study.

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O desenvolvimento de competências socioemocionais tem sido considerado como uma das componentes essenciais para uma educação de qualidade, possibilitando benefícios significativos no bem-estar e crescimento das crianças e adolescentes. A promoção destas competências permite a gestão das emoções, a promoção de relações interpessoais positivas, a aquisição de estratégias para a resolução de problemas, tomada de decisão de forma informada, o desenvolvimento de comportamentos sociais positivos e, consequentemente, a prevenção dos comportamentos de risco. Delinear projetos de intervenção que promovam o desenvolvimento destas competências desde a infância mostrou-se um tema prioritário e tem sido uma aposta frequente pelos vários profissionais no que toca à prevenção da doença mental. Quanto ao desenvolvimento de projetos sobre esta temática dirigido à fase da adolescência, a literatura encontra-se menos completa. Fez parte dos objetivos deste projeto de intervenção avaliar a importância e possível eficácia da implementação de intervenções que promovam o desenvolvimento de competências socioemocionais por meio de um grupo de adolescentes em situação de doença mental aguda, em contexto de internamento, com recurso a técnicas de dramatização. Pretendeu-se com isso compreender se este poderia constituir uma necessidade e ser parte integrante do projeto terapêutico individual de cada adolescente, como uma estratégia e um recurso facilitador bem como promotor de mudança de comportamento e de integração de novas estratégias para lidar com as várias questões que levam os adolescentes a adoecer mentalmente. Para este projeto de intervenção, procedeu-se à planificação e implementação de sessões de grupo onde se desenvolveram fundamentalmente intervenções no âmbito psicoterapêutico.

The development of socio-emotional skills has been considered an essential component for a quality education, enabling significant benefits in the well-being and growth of children and adolescents. The promotion of such skills allows the ability to manage emotions, the promotion of positive interpersonal relationships, the acquisition of strategies for solving problems, making informed decision, the development of positive social behaviors and, consequently, the prevention of risky behaviors. Outlining intervention projects that promote the development of these skills from childhood has proven to be a priority topic and has been a frequent priority by various professionals when it comes to the prevention of mental illness. However, for the development of projects on this theme aimed at adolescence, the literature is less complete. One of the main goals of this intervention project was to evaluate the importance and possible effectiveness of implementing interventions that promote the development of socio- emotional skills through a group of adolescents in a situation of acute mental illness, in a hospital context, using dramatization techniques. The aim was to understand if this could constitute a need and be an integral part of each adolescent's individual therapeutic project, as a strategy and resource that facilitates and promotes behavior change and the integration of new strategies to deal with the various issues that lead teenagers to become mentally ill. For this intervention project, group sessions were planned and implemented in which psychotherapeutic interventions were developed.

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Implementing a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) approach in school requires monitoring certain skills. As awareness of SEL increases in Italy, it is necessary to provide instruments to monitor these skills within a systemic approach. This study presents the cultural adaptation/validation of 5 scales from Panorama Education, which are widely used in school districts in the United States, to the Italian middle/high school context: Grit, Sense of Belonging, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Self-Efficacy. After cultural adaptation, 709 middle/high school students answered an online questionnaire (2021). Psychometric properties showed good internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit index. The differences in gender and grade level support the validity of the instrument.

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Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills comprise a broad set of abilities that are essential for building and maintaining relationships, regulating emotions, selecting and pursuing goals, or exploring novel stimuli. Toward an improved SEB skill assessment, Soto and colleagues recently introduced the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI). Measuring 32 facets from 5 domains with 192 items (assessment duration: ~15 min), BESSI constitutes the most extensive SEB inventory to date. However, so far, BESSI exists only in English. In three studies, we comprehensively validated a novel German-language adaptation, BESSI-G. Moreover, we expanded evidence on BESSI in three ways by (1) assessing the psychometric properties of the 32 individual skill facets, in addition to their domain-level structure; (2) providing first insights into the temporal stabilities of the 32 facets over 1.5 and 8 months; and (3) investigating the domains' and facets' associations with intelligence, in addition to personality traits. Results show that BESSI-G exhibits good psychometric properties (unidimensionality, reliability, factorial validity). Its domain-level structure is highly similar to that of the English-language source version. The facets show high temporal stabilities, convergent validity with personality traits, and discriminant validity with fluid and crystallized intelligence. We discuss implications for research on SEB skills.

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The aim of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a psycho-educational intervention programme. The objective of this programme was to achieve optimisation of self-concept and basic socio-emotional skills for comprehensive development in the adolescent stage. The sample consisted of 402 students from 19 groups from public secondary schools in the province of Badajoz. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was applied with a control group using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale, Self-Concept Form 5, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The analysis showed that the programme was effective in the family and social dimensions of self-concept, while in the other dimensions, the changes were not statistically significant. The results for emotion perception, understanding and regulation show that there were no statistically significant differences in the experimental group, although there were significant differences in the control group.

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The Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) began in 2004 in response to the need for a better evidence base to support optimal child social development and prevent crime and violence. Since then, the study has tracked the development of a diverse sample of youths (N = 1,675 in the target sample; ~50% female) from age 7 (n = 1,360) to age 20 (n = 1,180), with primary data collection waves at ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, and 20. The study uses a multi-method, multi-informant design that combines teacher, youth, and parent reports with observational and behavioural measures, biosampling, functional imaging, and ecological momentary assessment. Analyses of the data have contributed important evidence to a diversity of topics in child and adolescent development, illuminating the developmental roots of crime and aggression, the impacts of exposure to different forms and combinations of victimisation, and trajectories of mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms.

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Empirical evidence shows that lack of resources during infancy and the process of accumulating disadvantages throughout childhood have important consequences for cognitive and socio-emotional development. This paper examines socioeconomic gradients across language and socio-emotional measures. Using longitudinal data from 7-year, three-wave panel data, we study the patterns of socioeconomic status and child development in Chile and estimate how much of the wealth gap can be explained by different mediators like maternal educational and skills, child attendance of preschool and school, possession of books, or domestic violence indicators. We show that there are strong associations between household wealth and child development, and that, as the child grows, the gap between the most extreme quintiles of the distribution, both in cognitive and socio-emotional skills, persists but decreases in magnitude. Taking advantage of the longitudinal nature of the data, we calculate a permanent skill for each child and each skill dimension in this 7-year period. The analysis for the permanent component shows that wealth gaps are important to determine language, but not socio-emotional skills, and that the gap is larger for girls than for boys in the early childhood period. While mediators account for some of the associations, there is still a large socioeconomic gap that persists in receptive language among children. The most important factors that mediate the wealth gaps are inherited from maternal characteristics. By understanding the dynamism of social and cognitive vulnerability experienced during childhood and employing longitudinal data and methods, this study contributes to and extends the existing literature on socioeconomic gaps and child development in the Latin American context.

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