Social-emotional competence is a broad construct capturing how effective we are in our interactions with others and in navigating our own feelings. More and more studies are showing that social-emotional competence among students is linked with positive short and longer-term outcomes (Jones et al., 2015), like wellbeing, school completion and better health.
In a recently published study in the academic journal Social Psychology of Education (Collie & Ryan, 2025), we wanted to examine the role that teachers and parents play in relation to students’ social-emotional competence. With data collected among 373 Australian adolescent students aged 13-16, findings showed that both teachers and parents matter when it comes to supporting students’ social-emotional competence. As we explain in more detail below, teachers and parents can help to foster social-emotional functioning among students, which is important for their healthy development more broadly.
Key elements of social-emotional competence
We investigated 2 interconnected elements of social-emotional competence in our study. The first was students’ confidence, and the second was their social-emotional skills.
Social-emotional confidence is the belief students have in their ability to behave in socially and emotionally appropriate ways. This can include feeling self-assured when expressing their views in class, feeling capable to respond appropriately to others, or feeling confident that they can manage any frustration that occurs during a study session.
Social-emotional skills, in contrast, refer to students’ actual abilities to enact social-emotional strategies and behaviours, such as their ability to understand and manage emotions, make good choices, and interact effectively in social settings.
Investigating social-emotional confidence and skills together makes sense because these factors are connected.
If, for instance, students feel confident in their ability to manage their emotions, they’re more likely to use strategies to calm themselves when they feel frustrated or anxious. Or if students feel confident in their ability to adjust their behaviour in different settings, they’re more likely to stay focused during group work or avoid distracting others.
What did we examine in our study?
We asked students to report on 5 dimensions of social-emotional confidence to obtain a well-rounded picture:
- Assertiveness – whether they feel confident to advocate for themselves and others. This is about being able to express needs, opinions, and boundaries respectfully, and to stand up for what’s right, both personally and on behalf of others.
- Tolerance – whether they feel confident to be open-minded towards others’ and different perspectives. This encompasses the confidence to accept and respect diversity, understand different viewpoints, and engage constructively with ideas that may differ from one’s own.
- Emotion regulation – whether they feel confident to reframe their emotions to experience fewer negative emotions and more positive ones. This is about managing emotional responses in a healthy way, using strategies to reduce the intensity or duration of negative feelings, and cultivating more positive emotional states.
- Social regulation – whether they feel confident to adapt their behaviours to meet expectations in different contexts. This is about understanding social cues, self-monitoring one’s actions, and adjusting behaviour to fit various social situations, such as avoiding distractions or respecting others during activities.
- Emotional awareness – whether they feel confident to recognise any emotions that arise for them. This reflects confidence to identify and understand one’s own feelings as they occur.
We also examined 5 social-emotional skills that were reported by parents:
- Leadership skill – students’ ability to share their ideas and speak up in group settings
- Cultural competence – students’ capacity to understand, appreciate, and respect people from different cultural backgrounds
- Teamwork skill – students’ ability to work with others to achieve shared goals, like collaborating on a group project or solving a problem together
- Cognitive reappraisal skill – students’ capacity to rethink a situation in a way that helps manage emotions (e.g., seeing a mistake as a learning opportunity instead of a failure).
- Emotional reflection skill – students’ ability to notice and think about their feelings (for example, being able to recognise when they are feeling frustrated).
What role do teachers and parents play?
In order to determine the role that adults play in relation to the 2 elements of social-emotional competence, we asked students to report on the autonomy support they receive from their teachers and parents.
Autonomy support involves adults taking students’ perspectives through actions such as explaining why tasks or chores are important, offering choices when possible, speaking in an encouraging way, and showing patience as students learn and grow.
Our findings showed that parental and teacher autonomy support were both linked with social-emotional confidence. Parental autonomy support appeared important for all aspects of social-emotional confidence, whereas teacher autonomy support was particularly important for assertiveness and social regulation.
These findings indicate that parental and teacher autonomy support may help students to feel more socially and emotionally confident.
In turn, our results showed that social-emotional confidence was associated with greater levels of all social-emotional skills. This finding was expected because of the interconnectedness between confidence and skills. That is, when students have confidence in their social-emotional abilities, they’re more likely to actually demonstrate social-emotional skills in real-life situations.
What do the findings mean for teachers and parents?
Our findings suggest that teachers and parents both play a role in supporting students’ social-emotional competence.
Teachers and parents can help build students’ social-emotional confidence—and in turn their social-emotional skills – by using autonomy-supportive practices. Here are a few simple ways to do that:
Explain the ‘why’ behind tasks
This involves explaining why a task or chore is necessary and important to do. For example:
‘We’re practicing this skill because it helps you work better with others, which is something you’ll use in lots of situations—not just in school.’
Tune in to students’ needs
This involves being attuned to what students need. For example:
‘I noticed you’ve been quiet today—do you want to talk about how it’s going or if there’s anything I can do to support you?’
Acknowledge their feelings
This involves acknowledging any negative feelings that students may have in relation to a request. For example:
‘It’s okay to feel nervous before presenting to the class—lots of people do. Let’s talk about a few things that might help you feel more prepared.’
References
Collie, R. J. & Ryan, R.M. (2025). Autonomy support and students’ perceived social-emotional competence: predicting parent-reported social-emotional skills. Social Psychology of Education, 28, 116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-025-10079-9
Jones, D.E., Greenberg, M., Crowley, M. (2015). Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public Health. http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302630