https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/3962 2026-05-20T07:12:13Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146047 Title: A systematic review of the association between social and emotional competencies and student engagement in youth Authors: Santos, Anabela Caetano; Simões, Celeste; Melo, Márcia Helena Da Silva; Santos, Margarida F.; Freitas, Iara; Branquinho, Cátia; Cefai, Carmel; Arriaga, Patrícia Abstract: Student engagement (SE) is known as one of the most relevant predictors of academic achievement and completion. Social and emotional competencies (SECs) are well established as critical skills for healthy and adaptative youth development. This systematic review investigated the associations between SE and SECs in students aged 10–25 years. The review followed the PRISMA guidelines. Nine databases were searched for peer-reviewed literature published between 2004 and 2020. A total of 91 studies were selected, including 92879 youth students. Emotional engagement is the most studied dimension of student engagement and largely surpasses the number of studies that analysed the multidimensional SE concept. The number of studies in each of the five CASEL domains is uneven, with more studies focussing on self-management, self-awareness, and relationship skills, in association with SE. Overall, most studies showed that SECs are positively associated with SE and negatively associated with disengagement, with similar results for middle, high school and university students from different backgrounds, suggesting that educational institutions should implement social and emotional learning programmes to increase SE. Studies reporting age and gender differences with respect to SE showed unanimously higher SE values for girls and younger students. There is a clear need for studies that use the multidimensional SE concept, including university students and applying cross-cultural analyses. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146032 Title: Animated situational judgement to assess students’ learning about wellbeing Authors: Scully, Darina; Crosbie, Nisha; O’Brien, Deirdre; O’Leary, Michael Abstract: Although wellbeing and social and emotional education are key components of many school curricula worldwide, there is a lack of resources to support classroom-based assessment of students’ curricular knowledge about wellbeing. This paper outlines the systematic development and validation of the Wellbeing Situational Judgement Test (WB-SJT), an animated, scenario-based assessment of students’ learning about wellbeing in the context of the Irish lower secondary Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. Validation data (n = 316) demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties, high face validity, and positive criterion-related associations with students’ levels of connectedness, happiness and overall psychosocial function. The potential of the WB-SJT for both formative and summative assessment purposes is discussed, along with broader implications for schools’ wellbeing education. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146031 Title: The relationship between alexithymia levels and emotional and linguistic abilities in female adolescents Authors: Artuso, Caterina; Farina, Eleonora; Belacchi, Carmen Abstract: The association between alexithymia, the difficulty in identifying, processing, and describing emotions, and linguistic competencies, particularly definitional skills, has received scant attention in research. The present study sought to investigate the bidirectional association between alexithymia and word-definition ability -a metalinguistic and metarepresentational form of explicit verbal competence- while also considering the contributions of emotional intelligence, conceptualised as implicit psychological dimensions. A sample of Italian female adolescents (N = 886; M age = 16.2 years) completed the Italian version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), a performance-based measure of emotional intelligence, and the Co.De. Scale, which evaluates the formal and content-related quality of definitions of primary and secondary emotion terms. We found an association between poorer word-definition performance and higher alexithymia scores, but also a unique negative relationship with the externally oriented thinking component. Preliminary evidence indicates the existence of a metalanguage/meta representative deficit as levels of alexithymia increase. The results highlight the value of assessing and strengthening definitional competence in emotional language as an early indicator of alexithymia risk and as a foundation for preventive and clinical interventions amongst adolescents. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146030 Title: Gatekeeping, emotional labour and the motherhood penalty amongst staff in higher education Authors: Agius Tabone, Vania Abstract: Women in academia frequently encounter institutional and cultural barriers that constrain career progression, a phenomenon commonly described as the motherhood penalty. This paper examines how gatekeeping, understood as control over access to resources, opportunities, and institutional support, shapes the emotional and professional experiences of female academics and support staff at a higher education institution in Malta. The present study draws on 31 semi-structured interviews with staff who have caregiving responsibilities, complemented by documentary analysis of institutional policies. Findings are interpreted through the FRAGILE framework, encompassing Family-friendly entitlements, Resource accessibility, Autonomy, Gatekeeping, Institutional culture, Labour (emotional), and Equity. Results show that gatekeeping restricts access to family-friendly measures, intensifies emotional labour, and contributes to cumulative career penalties. Participants describe navigating complex hierarchies marked by implicit bias and uneven access to career-enhancing opportunities. The study highlights the structural and emotional consequences of informal institutional control and underscores the need for reforms that promote equity and wellbeing in higher education. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z