چكيده لاتين :
Introduction
Adolescence is a period of special vulnerability that is usually
associated with an increased incidence of mental disorders from the mid
to late stages (Sunitha, & Gururaj, 2014). The students living in boarding
schools have many problems with their accommodation and conditions
and face many stressful adverse events such as increased involvement with
peers and adjustment problems (Gao, 2014). Based on the results of the
study conducted by Hossey and Gao (2005), mental disorders and
behavioral and educational problems are higher among the students and
adolescents living in boarding schools than those living with their families.
The results also showed that the students in boarding schools have lower
self-esteem and poorer social skills. One of the internal factors that can
help boarding school students to keep psychologically healthy, despite the
difficulties they face at school, is their “psychological resilience”. The
boarding school students with higher psychological resilience are better
able to adapt to the environment and this affects their social relationships
and academic performance (Skinner, 1992). A contributing factor to the
process of resilience and adjustment, in adolescents in general and those
living in boarding school in particular, is social-emotional skills training
that has emerged in the late twentieth century as a serious topic in the
process of personal transformation (Crane, 2015/1396). The results of the
study by Ratcliffe, Wong, Dossetor & Hayes (2014) showed that socialemotional skills training increases emotional skills and social competence,
resulting in overall mental health. Previous studies corroborate the
effectiveness of social-emotional skills training in enhancing the learners’
adaptability and the ability to communicate effectively and accept social
responsibility; with this being a purpose of education to boost such abilities
of the learners, it can be argued that social-emotional skills training is quite
essential for them (Behpajuh, Soleimani, Afruz, & Lavasani, 2010). Thus,
this study aimed at investigating the effect of social-emotional skills
training on the resilience and adjustment of boarding school students. The
findings of this study can be used by parents, teachers, and counselors to
empower adolescents to pass this stressful period of life.
Research Questions
Does social-emotional skills training have a significant impact on the
resilience and adjustment of male adolescent students in boarding schools?
Methodology
The study adopted a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest
and control group. The statistical population consisted of the first high
school male students in boarding schools in Neyshabur in the academic
year 2017-2018, among whom 100 students were selected through
available sampling method and completed the Resilience and Adjustment
Scale. Subsequently, 30 students whose resilience and adjustment scores
were lower than average were selected as the participants in the study. The
justification for their selection was that they were found more in need of
social-emotional training than others and could benefit more from the
experiment involved in the study than others. The participants were
randomly assigned to the experimental (N = 15) and control (N = 15)
groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions of social-emotional
skills training.
Results
The findings of the study showed a significant improvement in the
resilience and adjustment of the students in the experimental group, as
compared to those in the control group. Therefore, social-emotional skills
training can significantly increase resilience and adjustment in boarding
school students.
Discussion and Conclusion
Explaining the above findings, it can be argued that people with the
emotional knowledge needed to cope with can identify their emotions can
build positive relationships, make complex decisions, and enhance their
conflict management skills (Adibsereshki et al., 2019). According to Judge
(2005), positive interpersonal skills act as protective and supportive agents
of resilience and produce valuable results in the coping process. In this
regard, Howard, Dryden, and Johnson (1999) believe that the best way to
enhance the students' resilience is to design curricula based on the
principles of social-emotional skills training. According to the results of
the present study, training social-emotional skills significantly increased
the adjustment of the experimental group, revealing the effectiveness of
social-emotional skills training. Therefore, the social-emotional skills
training program helps individuals to increase their self-awareness,
emotion recognition, interpersonal relationships, empathy, flexibility to
changes, emotion control, and the ability to express themselves in the face
of negative experiences and adapt successfully to the conditions. It can be
argued that social-emotional skills training increases the resilience and
adjustment in boarding school students and is especially necessary for
teenage students in boarding schools, who have poor coping skills. Thus,
schools should strive to implement resilience and adjustment strategies as
part of their curriculum, and the curriculum, especially in boarding
schools, should go beyond the formal one. Future research can focus on
enhancing such skills for teachers in these schools. In addition, due to the
limitations of the present research, follow-up study was not possible, and
future studies can more effectively investigate the impact of this training
program by conducting a follow-up study. Moreover, since the research
instrument used in this study was a questionnaire, due to the limitations in
explaining the results of the questionnaire, it is better to use behavioral
observation of the boarding school students to evaluate the effect of the
educational program.
