This study aims to validate the Bullying and Cyberbullying Behaviors Questionnaire, to examine the prevalence of bullying and victimization behaviors in Portuguese middle school students, and to analyse the differences in victimization and bullying between genders and across school grades. The questionnaire is composed of 36 items, allowing for the measurement of the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying, and was completed by 1039 sixth to eighth graders ( M age = 12.02; SD = 1.36) from six public middle schools in the district of Lisbon. The questionnaire presented acceptable psychometrics properties, except for the victims of cyberbullying scale where there is an item that needs to be rewritten. Bullying prevalence (10.1% victims and 6.1% aggressors) is among the lowest internationally. Victimization prevalence was homogeneous between genders, but boys reported aggressive behaviors more frequently. The percentage of victims decreased across school grades. The present questionnaire is adequate for use in the assessment of bullying and cyberbullying with middle school students. Bullying prevention programs should take into account the need to raise teacher awareness of bullying and cyberbullying.

This study investigated the impact, reported by students and their teachers, of a universal, school-based, social-emotional learning program, implemented in three school years on the social-emotional competencies of middle school students (7th to 9th grade). It also analyzes, at post-test and follow-up, the differential results by gender and among students with lower levels of competence. There were 1091 participants, 855 students received the treatment condition (i.e., Project Attitude) and 236 students the control condition. Selfreports identified positive intervention results in social awareness, self-control, selfesteem, social isolation and social anxiety, teachers reported gains in all dimensions. These positive effects were stably effective along the three cohorts. Self-reports also identified bigger gains for girls in social awareness and for boys in social anxiety, self-esteem and leadership. Students with initial lower levels of competence benefited more from the intervention, especially at follow-up. These results support the effectiveness of socialemotional learning programs.

We examined the effects of a social and emotional learning program, Program Positive Attitude, on the social and emotional competencies and self-esteem of Portuguese elementary school students, from the twin perspectives of students and their teachers. Participants were 1237 fourth grade students from 37 schools in a Portuguese municipality, with a mean age of 9.2 years, of which 970 students (in 86 classes) participated in the program and 267 students (in 21 classes) served as a comparison group. Students and their teachers completed questionnaires prior to and following the intervention. We used multilevel linear modeling with a repeated measures design to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Both students and their teachers reported significant intervention gains in self-control and social awareness. Students' in the intervention group also identified reductions in social isolation and improvements in self-esteem, and their teachers reported decreases in their students' social anxiety. An analysis by gender revealed that only girls showed increases in self-esteem, and only boys reported reduced social isolation. These findings support the effectiveness of the program.

This controlled pre-post study investigates whether a universal, school-based, socio-emotional learning program implemented in two consecutive years, would promote an increase in academic, social and emotional self-concept of Portuguese middle school students. It also analyzes if there are differential results by gender and among students with lower self-concept. There were 630 participants (Mage = 13.54; SD = 1.36), 474 students (25 classes) integrated program "Positive Attitude" and 156 (8 classes) in control groups. Self-report questionnaires were administered before and after intervention. There are significant intervention increases in social, emotional and total self-concept, which are stable along the two years and across genders, except for emotional self-concept where only boys show benefits. Intervention students with initial lower levels of self-concept profit more than their colleagues in academic and social self-concept. These results indicate that the intervention positively impacts the self-concept of middle school students, supporting the effectiveness of socio-emotional learning programs.Keywords: Self-concept, social and emotional learning, middle school. ResumoEste estudo investiga se um programa escolar universal de aprendizagem socioemocional, implementado em dois anos escolares consecutivos, promove melhorias no autoconceito académico, social e emocional de estudantes de 3º ciclo. O estudo também analisa a influência do género e dos níveis iniciais de competência sobre os resultados. No total, 630 alunos participaram no estudo: 474 alunos (25 turmas) integrados no programa «Atitude positiva» e 156 (8 turmas) como parte dos grupos de controlo. Foram aplicados questionários de autorrelato antes e depois do Programa. Os resultados mostram ganhos significativas no autoconceito social, emocional e total, que foram estáveis nos dois anos de intervenção e para ambos os géneros, com excepção do autoconceito emocional, no qual apenas os rapazes apresentam ganhos. Adicionalmente, os alunos com níveis mais baixos de autoconceito beneficiam mais da intervenção no autoconceito académico e social. Estes resultados apoiam a efetividade dos programas de aprendizagem socioemocional.Palavras-chave: Autoconceito, aprendizagem socioemocional, 3º ciclo.

Understanding which factors are relevant for the effectiveness of social and emotional learning programs is of key importance in designing interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of a universal, school-based, social and emotional learning program for low middle school students (5th and 6th grades) and compared two program delivery formats for the intervention: curriculum (a semi-structured format) and pre-package (fixed structure).The program also analyzed differential gender effects. There were 982 participants (M = 11.22; SD = 1.02, 46.8 % girls): 318 in the control condition, 355 students in the intervention delivered with a curriculum format and 309 in the intervention delivered in a pre-package format, assessed at pretest, posttest and follow-up eight months later. Multilevel analyses identified positive intervention results in social awareness, self-control, self-esteem, social isolation and social anxiety. The pre-packaged format led to better results in self-esteem and social isolation. Boys gained more in social awareness in both program delivery formats. These findings support the program's effectiveness and the importance of designing the intervention to match program delivery formats with developmental needs.

This study presents the construction and validation of an instrument for assessing social and emotional competencies in adolescents. The Social and Emotional Competences Evaluation Questionnaire (QACSE) is based on three previous instruments and constructed according to the theoretical framework proposed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (2005).The questionnaire was validated in a sample of 683 high middle school students (7th to 9th grade), with an average age of 12.91 years. Six teachers also participated by filling the teacher version regarding 111 students on the sample. Results showed that the QACSE presents good levels of reliability and validity; including a sound five dimension factor structure.The final version of the QACSE is composed by 39 items, organized into five scales that assess the following social and emotional competencies: self-control, social awareness, relationship skills, social isolation and social anxiety. The QACSE takes around 10 minutes to fill and is appropriate for individual or group use for the evaluation of the aforementioned competencies. This questionnaire assesses most of the key competencies identified by the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (2012).

This study investigated how social and emotional competencies are related to middle school students’ involvement in bullying, and whether class-levels variables influence this association. There were 668 participants ( Mage = 12.73, SD = 1.08) who participated in a screening for inclusion in a social and emotional learning program. Results showed that students not involved in bullying displayed higher levels of self-esteem than students involved in bullying in any role (victims, perpetrators, or bully-victims), higher levels of self-control and social awareness than perpetrators and bully-victims, and higher levels of responsible decision making than bully-victims. Gender did not moderate the relation between any bullying roles and social and emotional competencies, but class size moderated the relation between being a bully/victim and self-esteem and between being a bully and self-control. These results supported the relevance of including class-level variables when analyzing the relation between bullying and social and emotional competencies.

There is a lack of studies in the literature addressing the differential effectiveness of Social and Emotional Learning according to their implementation setting. This study compared the effectiveness of an upper middle school Social and Emotional Learning program applied in two different settings: within school and after-school hours, while controlling for individual and class-level variables. There were 837 students (M12.70; SD = 0.98; 47.6% were female): 246 in the control group, 319 in the after-school intervention group and 272 in the within school schedule intervention group, assessed at pretest, post-test and follow-up seven months later. Multilevel analyses identified more positive intervention results in on self-esteem, self-control, and social awareness for students in the within school schedule groups. Girls gained more in social awareness in both program settings. This study highlights the importance of analyzing Social and Emotional Learning program´s differential effectiveness in order to optimize it.