Dimensions and Psychometric Properties of the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire (SEC-Q) in youth and adolescents

Many intervention programs are conducted in different countries in order to promote social and emotional learning. Nevertheless, the number of instruments to evaluate these competencies is still low, and core social and emotional competencies are rarely included in a single questionnaire and measured as a single construct. Thus, this study was conducted to design and validate the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire. This instrumental study was conducted with 643 university students and a representative sample of 2,139 adolescents. The results show that the questionnaire has good psychometric properties and includes four components: self-awareness, self-management and motivation, social-awareness and prosocial behavior, and decision-making. These competencies are positively related to perceived emotional intelligence and negatively related to alexithymia. This questionnaire can be useful in evaluating social and emotional competencies in different settings. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of social and emotional learning programs.