Examining Culturally Sensitive SEL Programs for Rural Chinese Students: Evidence from Two Quasi-Experimental Studies

Background and Purpose: Rejecting the one-size-fits-all ideology, there is a growing call to shift the focus from universal, Westernized Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs to the development and evaluation of culturally grounded or tailored programs that better meet the specific needs of children in various cultural contexts. Although Westernized SEL programs have been extensively studied, very few have been developed or adapted in non-Western countries, particularly in resource-constrained settings. This presentation aims to provide rigorous evidence supporting the effectiveness of culturally tailored SEL programs for school children in rural China.

Methods: The first pilot study investigated the impact of an 8-session SEL program developed by local social workers and psychologists on the social-emotional skills of rural children. This quasi-experimental study used a pre- and post-intervention design and included 1,247 fifth graders in Southwest China. The second study, conducted in the Greater Bay Area of China, built upon the previous study by implementing an enhanced 18-session SEL program, which was modified from the original 8-session format. Employing a quasi-experimental design, this study collected data at three time points: baseline, midpoint, and post-intervention. It involved 461 children in the intervention group and 488 in the comparison group, nested within 22 classrooms. This study not only assessed the impact on social-emotional skills but also explored a range of mental health outcomes, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors. In both studies, multi-level models were utilized to understand the intervention effects considering the cluster effect at the classroom level. Additionally, subgroup analysis was performed using the Bonferroni correction to address the multiple testing issue.

Results: Findings from the first pilot study found students rated the program as highly satisfactory, interesting, helpful, and practical. Results demonstrated significant intervention effects on children’s self-awareness (Cohen’s d=0.34), social awareness (Cohen’s d=0.25), and relationship skills (Cohen’s d=0.18). The second study showed that at the midpoint, compared to the comparison group, students in the intervention group had greater gains in self-awareness (Cohen’s d=0.15), social awareness (Cohen’s d = 0.23), and responsible decision making (Cohen’s d=0.15). In addition, it demonstrated significant intervention effects on reducing peer problems (Cohen’s d=0.39) and externalizing behaviors (Cohen’s d=0.50), as well as reducing negative body image (Cohen’s d=0.35). Subgroup analysis showed that intervention effects on reducing rural boys’ externalizing behaviors (Cohen’s d=0.54) were larger than rural girls (Cohen’s d=0.45). Rural children with parents in a legal marriage benefited more from this program in reducing their externalizing behaviors (Cohen’s d=0.5) compared to their counterparts (p>0.05/n, n=number of subgroups).

Conclusions and Implications: The findings from the two studies offer encouraging evidence that culturally sensitive SEL programs are effective in enhancing the social-emotional skills and psychological well-being of rural Chinese children. These findings call for developing SEL programs embedded with cultural components in order to enhance their impact. Moreover, considering the scarcity of resources as well as the pressing needs of students’ mental wellbeing in rural settings, it is imperative that future research and practice efforts should focus on building and broadening existing school-based SEL programs in rural areas of mainland China.