Impact of Innovative Emotion Training in Preschool and Kindergarten Children Aged from 3 to 6 Years
Anne Lafay,
Carole Berger,
Laura Alaria,
Sonia Angonin,
Nathalie Dalla-Libera,
Sylvie Richard,
Thalia Cavadini,
Edouard Gentaz
Affiliations
Anne Lafay
Department of Psychology, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France
Carole Berger
Department of Psychology, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France
Laura Alaria
Department of Psychology, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France
Sonia Angonin
French Ministry of National Education, 75007 Paris, France
Nathalie Dalla-Libera
French Ministry of National Education, 75007 Paris, France
Sylvie Richard
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Thalia Cavadini
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Edouard Gentaz
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Children’s emotional abilities have been shown to be related to academic performance, peer acceptance, and in-school adjustment. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of innovative emotion training designed to promote the emotional abilities of 316 preschool/kindergarten children aged from 3 to 6 years old enrolled in public schools in the first three levels (L1, L2, and L3). Another objective was to examine the transfer effects on language comprehension and mathematics abilities. The emotion training (eight sessions) focused on the identification, comprehension, and expression of emotions and were co-constructed with teachers. Children were tested before and after the training on emotion, language, and mathematics skills. Results showed an improvement in emotional abilities in young children of L1 (3–4 years) and L2 (4–5 years) in the intervention group compared to those in the non-intervention group. Also, although children’s emotion basic abilities were correlated with their language comprehension and mathematics abilities, the nature of this link was not demonstrated to be causal. Findings are discussed in regard to the influence of the level and in regard to links with academic variables.
