Marena de la Caridad Hernández Lugo

Background. Socio-emotional competencies are important for mental health and successful human interaction. In the university context, strengthening socio-emotional competencies is essential for fostering a collaborative learning environment, where students can manage academic stress and build meaningful connections with their peers.

Objective. To test the psychometric properties of the Socio-Emotional Competence Assessment Scale in the Cuban population.

Design. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted. Study 1 (N = 640) assessed the psychometric properties of the Socio-Emotional Competence Assessment Scale within the Cuban population. In Study 2 (N = 913), the nomological validity of the scale was evaluated.

Results. In Study 1, the scale demonstrated high internal consistency and the expected three-factor structure. We had to eliminate one item, as it was negatively correlated with the rest of the scale items; the result was the Cuban ECSE. In Study 2, we tested the nomological validity of the scale: we found that socio-emotional competencies had medium-sized positive correlations with subjective well-being and perceived academic self-efficacy. Negative associations were found between socio-emotional competencies and academic stress. Additionally, socio-emotional competencies were positively and statistically significantly correlated with the dimension of coping strategies in response to stressful stimuli or situations.

Conclusion. The use of the ECSE is recommended in the Cuban context.