Emotional Competencies as an Adolescent’s Psychological Capital: Toward to Developing Enhancement Program

Abstract

Background and Aim: Several programs have been prepared based on various theoretical models to improve emotional functions in adolescent groups. But so far, no program has been prepared based on the co-vitality model as the latest theory of psychological health based on cumulative assets. The current research was conducted with the aim of creating an emotional competence program for teenagers aged 15-13 years in the context of virtual space based on the covitality model. The emotional competence program based on covitality theory was developed with three components of emotion regulation, empathy and self-control. Methods: This research is of fundamental type and in terms of data collection method it is of semi-experimental type. The study population to check the effectiveness of the program included high school students in Tehran. From the scale of psychological capital (Akbari Zard Khane, Miri & Fathabadi, in press), emotion regulation checklist (Shields & Cicchetti, 1998), self-control questionnaire (Tangney, Baumeister & Boone, 2004) and students' empathy questionnaire (Vossen, Piotrowski & Valkenburg, 2015) were used. After reviewing relevant articles, books and websites, the initial program of emotional competence was developed and implemented. The initial implementation was carried out with the aim of checking the implementation possibilities of the intervention and reaching the points that need attention and correction. This program was implemented in an available sample group consisting of 5 female students and 2 male students with a single group design. The data was analyzed by one-group t method. Results: Checking the validity of the content of the created program using the opinions of five experts showed its validity. Also, the implementation of the program in a group of teenagers showed that this program led to an increase in psychological capital, empathy and emotion regulation (p>0.05), but did not change in self-control (p>0.05). Conclusion: The emotional competence program has a good ability to increase empathy, emotion regulation and psychological capital of teenagers; however, it is necessary to make corrections in the sections related to the self-control component of the emotional competence program. Therefore, content that includes goal setting, planning, motivating and prioritizing daily tasks should be added to the program