Acceptability and preliminary impact of a school-based SEL program for rural children in China: A quasi-experimental study

While Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) as school-based mental health preventative interventions have been extensively examined in western contexts, they have not yet been studied much in China. Several SEL programs have been developed or adapted for Chinese contexts, but few studies have examined their intervention effects in resource constrained settings, especially rare in rural schools. This study serves as the first to examine the acceptability and preliminary impact of a school-based SEL intervention in rural Chinese elementary schools. A quasi-experimental pre- and post-intervention study with a two-level cluster design was adopted. The sample consisted of 1247 fifth graders nested within 28 classrooms in Southwest China. Students rated the SEL curriculum as highly satisfactory, interesting, helpful, and practical. Findings demonstrated significant SEL intervention effects on rural children’s overall self-reported social and emotional competencies (ES = 0.213) and three subdomains including self-awareness (ES = 0.342), social awareness (ES = 0.25), and relationship skills (ES = 0.185). However, no intervention effects were found in the subdomains including self-management and responsive decision-making. Additionally, the subgroup analysis revealed that children of work-away parents, as well as boys, obtained greater benefits from the SEL intervention. These findings are interpreted in light of their practice, research, and policy implications to further strengthen school-based SEL efforts for improving rural children’s wellbeing.