A structural equatin model of the relationships between social-emotional competence, social support, depression, and aggression in early adolescents in South Korea

Abstract

The current study examined whether social-emotional competence affects depression and aggression and whether social support serves as a significant mediator for Korean early adolescents. The current study surveyed 286 elementary school students at three elementary schools located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do province in South Korea. Correlation analysis was conducted and structural equation modeling was used to assess the hypothesized structural relationships among the latent variables. The key findings of this study were as follows. First, significant correlations among all variables including social-emotional competence, social support, depression, and aggression were found. Second, a structural model of social-emotional competence, social support, depression, and aggression was proved to be valid. Third, the direct effect of social-emotional competence on depression and aggression was not statistically significant, suggesting the complete mediating effect of social support. The results of this study suggest that social-emotional competence and social support play crucial roles in decreasing depression and aggression in early adolescents. Social support plays a significant role as a mediator between social-emotional competence, depression, and aggression. These findings indicate that social-emotional competence and social support is significant to decrease depression and aggression in early adolescents. These findings are significant because early adolescents’ depression and aggression could be prevented or treated by enhancing social-emotional competence and providing social support in educational and counseling settings.