About this Research Topic
Socio-emotional skills concern the ability to recognize, understand and manage one's emotions, develop empathy by learning the emotions of others, make good decisions, build friendships and effectively manage challenging situations. They are essential for human development, since they are intertwined with social adjustment, life satisfaction and with personal well-being.
While some of these skills emerge from the first years of life, others develop during childhood and adolescence, thanks to a good relationship with the world of adults. Following several decades of research, literature evidenced that, across different ages, good socio-emotional skills are closely linked with prosocial behavioral tendencies, whereas deficits in such skills resulted associated with aggressiveness.
Studies investigating these relationships mainly deepened some of the core features of socio-emotional competence in relation with behavioral issues, but very few studies try to identify the reciprocal influences of different aspects of these constructs in a single and coherent research effort, or even examine these in relation to potential co-variation factors or underlying variables. Furthermore, widening this investigation to atypical developmental trajectories could promote a more complex view of socio-emotional skills in relation to behavioral stances.
The main aim of this Research Topic is the collection of empirical contributions focused on the role of different psychological factors on the relationships between socio-emotional skills and prosocial/aggressive behavior in typical and atypical development from early childhood to adolescence. We welcome original research papers investigating on this association in relation (but not limited) to:
- The role of language and communication skills (both in typical and atypical development)
- Adjustment processes
- Executive functions
While some of these skills emerge from the first years of life, others develop during childhood and adolescence, thanks to a good relationship with the world of adults. Following several decades of research, literature evidenced that, across different ages, good socio-emotional skills are closely linked with prosocial behavioral tendencies, whereas deficits in such skills resulted associated with aggressiveness.
Studies investigating these relationships mainly deepened some of the core features of socio-emotional competence in relation with behavioral issues, but very few studies try to identify the reciprocal influences of different aspects of these constructs in a single and coherent research effort, or even examine these in relation to potential co-variation factors or underlying variables. Furthermore, widening this investigation to atypical developmental trajectories could promote a more complex view of socio-emotional skills in relation to behavioral stances.
The main aim of this Research Topic is the collection of empirical contributions focused on the role of different psychological factors on the relationships between socio-emotional skills and prosocial/aggressive behavior in typical and atypical development from early childhood to adolescence. We welcome original research papers investigating on this association in relation (but not limited) to:
- The role of language and communication skills (both in typical and atypical development)
- Adjustment processes
- Executive functions
Keywords: socio-emotional skills, aggressive behaviour, prosocial behaviour, children, adolescents, aggressive behavior, prosocial behavior
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
