Secondary school transition: bridging the gap through social emotional learning

Background: Relational developmental systems theory states that transitions are dynamic processes influenced by multiple interacting systems. As children transition into adolescence, contemporaneous biopsychosocial changes can lead to fluctuations in psychological well-being (PWB). These changes can include stress sensitivity, emotional lability, and the new social setting of secondary school. Targeting students’ social-emotional competencies before transitioning into secondary school could be an efficient and effective way of minimising risk and maximising PWB. The Motus Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Program has been designed to promote positive transition experiences for Irish sixth-class students before they transition into secondary school.

Aim: The overarching objective of this thesis was to better understand the relationship between social-emotional competencies, the cortisol awakening response, and PWB across secondary school transition and to examine if these variables can be improved via the Motus SEL program. This thesis included five empirical studies:

Chapter 3 reviewed the relationship between the emotion regulation strategy of cognitive reappraisal and PWB during early adolescence. Most studies showed a positive association, regardless of how cognitive reappraisal was measured.

Chapter 4 examined the effect of secondary school transition on the cortisol awakening response and whether the cortisol awakening response predicted PWB post-transition (N = 114). Results found that the cortisol awakening response declined and became steeper across secondary school transition, and it did not predict PWB post-transition.

Chapter 5 examined the association between secondary school transition, social?emotional competencies and PWB, and the moderating effects of gender, school socioeconomic status and COVID-19 school closures (N = 233). These relationships were moderated by gender as PWB declined for girls but not boys, and suppression use declined and self-esteem increased for boys but not girls. The study also found that social support, self-esteem, and gender predicted PWB post-secondary school transition.

Chapter 6 evaluated the effectiveness of the Motus SEL program across secondary school transition (N = 596). Results found that the Motus SEL program significantly increased PWB across secondary school transition. When moderators were examined, the effectiveness of the program on emotion regulation use varied across genders. The program significantly improved cognitive reappraisal use for boys but not girls, and reduced emotional suppression use for girls but not boys

Chapter 7 explored student experiences of the Motus SEL program to provide insight into program effectiveness and student responsiveness. Two focus groups (N = 20) discussed their opinions about the program by articulating what they learned, and what they liked and disliked. Using thematic analysis, relevant and applicable SEL content, the importance of program structure in SEL, the integration of gamification into SEL, and the need for individualised SEL were identified as themes.

Conclusion: Contributions of this thesis were five-fold. First, there is a clear positive relationship between cognitive reappraisal and PWB during early adolescence, and cognitive reappraisal should be promoted in youth contexts. Second, the CAR does not predict positive PWB post-transition and could be a specific risk marker of psychopathology. Third, it is important to improve or maintain self-esteem and social support across secondary school transition and pay particular attention to girls. Fourth, SEL programs such as the Motus program are a viable option to improve social?emotional development across secondary school transition, but further refinement of the Motus SEL program is needed. Finally, students find the Motus SEL program relevant and fun, but the program structure needs to be improved and it needs to be more individualised to engage different students.