SCIENCE DES ÉMOTIONS : Evaluation of a Psychosocial Skills Development Program for Middle School Students

Summary

The goal of this Quasi-experimental cluster randomized trial is:

* 1a. Primary purpose: to determine the feasibility of the "Science des Emotions" curriculum through a participatory and translational research methodology, involving educators in evaluating programme fidelity, acceptability, perceived usefulness, and overall experience through quantitative and qualitative measures.
* 1b. Primary purpose: to assess the feasibility of the "Science des Emotions" curriculum from students' perspectives, including feasibility, acceptability, perceived usefulness, and overall experience, using quantitative and qualitative measures.
* 1c. Primary purpose: to determine whether the "Science des Emotions" curriculum improves psychosocial skills, emotional awareness, and adaptive emotion regulation strategies among 6th- and 7th-grade students.
* 2a. Secondary purpose: to determine whether the programme affects peer relationships, perceived closeness with classmates, and problematic behaviours among students.
* 2b. Secondary purpose: to determine whether the programme improves classroom climate reported by educators.
* 2c. Secondary purpose: to determine whether the programme improves educators' psychosocial skills and emotional awareness.
* 2d. Secondary purpose: to examine whether improvements in emotional awareness mediate the effect of the programme on educators' psychosocial skills.
* 2e. Secondary purpose: to examine whether improvements in emotional awareness and adaptive emotion regulation mediate the effect of the programme on students' psychosocial skills.
* 2f. Secondary purpose: to explore moderating factors of programme effectiveness, including students' behavioural difficulties and socio-economic background.
* 2g. Secondary purpose: to evaluate programme implementation through session-level assessments of clarity, feasibility, satisfaction, and visual materials completed by educators after each session. Changes in knowledge related to emotions and emotion regulation will also be assessed among students and educators.

This analysis will support recommendations for large-scale implementation and public policy.

Participants

Educators and educational staff delivering the programme (n = 100) Students aged 10-13 participating in the programme (n = 2400)

Measures

Primary objectives

* Students (both arms) will complete psychosocial skills, emotion regulation, and emotional awareness measures at pre-test (t0), post-test (t1), and 5-month follow-up (t2).
* Students in the intervention arm will complete a post-programme questionnaire assessing satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and acceptability, and may participate in a semi-structured interview assessing feasibility, usefulness, and overall experience.
* Educators in the intervention arm will complete a post-programme questionnaire assessing implementation fidelity and perceived usefulness, and may participate in a semi-structured interview assessing acceptability, usefulness, and overall experience.

Secondary objectives

* Students (both arms) will complete peer relationship, perceived closeness, problematic behaviour, and socio-demographic measures.
* Educators (both arms) will complete classroom climate, psychosocial skills, emotional awareness, and knowledge questionnaires at t0, t1, and t2. Schools will also provide absenteeism and behavioural data.
* Students (both arms) will complete an ad hoc knowledge questionnaire at t0, t1, and t2.
* Educators in the intervention arm will complete session-level feasibility, clarity, and satisfaction measures after each session.

Conditions

• Feasibility Studies - Efficacy of Intervention Psychosocial Skills Learning
• Efficacy of Intervention
• Social Emotional Learning

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Socio-emotional curriculum - Science des Emotions

The "Science des Émotions" program is a structured socio-emotional learning curriculum delivered through 8 sessions integrated into the "vie de classe" period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Paris Nanterre University

  collaborator OTHER

• Observatoire des compétences psychosociales et du Bien-être en contextes Educatifs (OBE)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University Paris 8 Vincennes Saint Denis

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marianne Habib, Associate Professor · Université Paris 8, DysCo Lab

• Charlotte Pinabiaux, Professor · Université Paris Nanterre, DysCo Lab

• Sophia Vorontsov, PhD Student · Université Paris 8, DysCo Lab

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

10 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-07-01

Primary Completion

2026-12-20

Completion

2027-12-20

Countries

• France

Study Locations