Impacts of Social and Emotional Learning Interventions for Teachers on Teachers' Outcomes: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

• Main Authors: Sofia Oliveira, Magda Sofia Roberto, Nádia Salgado Pereira, Alexandra Marques-Pinto, Ana Margarida Veiga-Simão
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-07-01
• Series: Frontiers in Psychology
• Subjects: intervention; meta-analysis; professional development; social and emotional learning; systematic review; teachers
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.677217/full

Teaching is among the most emotionally demanding jobs, impacting teachers' personal lives and job performance. Since teaching-specific stressors are mainly socio-emotional related, social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions targeting teachers have increased rapidly in recent years. This study conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of 43 empirical studies which evaluated the efficacy of school-based SEL interventions involving 3,004 in-service preK-12 teachers. The initial systematic review showed that these interventions were very heterogeneous and the research on their efficacy assessed widely distinct outcome variables. Concerning the meta-analysis, results showed statistically significant small to medium effect sizes favoring the experimental group, with SEL interventions impacting teachers' social and emotional competence [g = 0.59, 95% CI (0.29, 0.90)], well-being [g = 0.35, 95% CI (0.16, 0.54)], and psychological distress [g = −0.34, 95% CI (−0.57, −0.10)]. Meta-regressions did not reveal significant values of the explanatory variables, and publication bias was found for social and emotional competence and well-being domains. Findings add to growing empirical evidence regarding the impact of these interventions and contribute to the development of guidelines for the design of effective SEL interventions for teachers.