Solabarrieta Eizaguirre, JosuSantibáñez Gruber, RosaMartínez Yarza, NereaFacultad de Educación y Deporte2026-02-172026-02-172025-03-03https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14454/5122Social-emotional skills, encompassing abilities such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making, are critical for personal well-being, positive social interactions, and academic success. This thesis explores various aspects of social-emotional skill assessment and development among primary and secondary students, focusing on socioeconomically disadvantaged student populations. It highlights the significant impact of financial hardship during childhood and adolescence on an individual's current well-being, future opportunities and broader societal development. Study 1 presents a systematic review of 25 instruments designed to measure social-emotional skills in students, emphasizing the rapid growth in assessment tools over recent decades and the need for comprehensive, multi-method approaches. Study 2 validates the Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale (SECDS) in a Spanish student sample, confirming its reliability, multi-dimensional structure, and suitability for assessing social-emotional skills in students aged 8 to 17. Study 3 investigates how family involvement influences social-emotional skills of students from economically vulnerable backgrounds, revealing that while family involvement does not directly affect social-emotional skills, it significantly enhances student engagement, which in turn promotes social-emotional growth. Study 4 examines the effect of student academic expectations on student engagement, finding that gender moderates this relationship, with female students showing a stronger positive connection between academic expectations and engagement compared to male students. The thesis combines secondary data analysis and primary data collection, using quantitative methods such as psychometric validation, mediation, and moderation analysis. Together, these studies offer a multi-faceted understanding of social-emotional skill development, emphasizing the importance of students' socioeconomic background and offering insights for interventions aimed at fostering these essential skills in diverse educational contexts.engCiencias EconómicasEconomía sectorialEducaciónPedagogíaOrganización y planificación de la educaciónNiveles y temas de educaciónPsicologíaPsicología del niño y del adolescenteSociologíaSociología del trabajoSociología educativadoctoral thesis