ABSTRACT

The last couple of decades have witnessed a constant increase in the number of adults, adolescents and children who experience different forms of mental problems. The seriousness of this phenomenon is further emphasized by the fact that those children, who present mental health problems at an early age are prone to develop serious mental health problems later in life. This situation compels for the development of efficient methods through which children may improve their abilities, and prevent possible malfunctioning. Consistent empirical research indicated that optimally developed emotional and social competencies, predict not only school-readiness, but also become protective abilities against the development of mental ill-health. Research has also evinced that preschool is one of the moments and contexts in which these abilities can be most efficiently improved. The major aim of the present study was to investigate the short-term effect of a preventive program, using a multi-assessment design. Our results indicate that besides the normal developmental pattern presented by the control group, our intervention had a significant short-term effect in the development of emotional and social competencies assessed both by educators and parents.

KEYWORDS: emotional competences, social competences, preschoolers, school-readiness, primary prevention

PAGES: 15-34