| Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT
Concern about children´s mental health is steadily increasing in Portuguese schools, making this the right time for its promotion. Positive education sustains that well-being should be taught through programs of social-emotional skills. Thus, mindfulness will take a privileged spot in education, with an increasing number of interventions based on this type of practice being directed at children, youth and teachers. Teachers are one of professionals most affected by stress and professional burnout, and since they are fundamental models for their pupils, there is a current need to provide them with social-emotional skills, that will promote their well-being, thus contributing to a positive classroom environment that will increase learning and improve the teacher-student relationship. This study aims to contribute towards this challenge, through the evaluation of the indirect impact that a program of social-emotional skills based on mindfulness practices for First Grade school teachers has on their students, namely on their positive and negative emotions and on their subjective well-being, while also considering gender differences. Adopting an experimental investigation model, students of the intervention group teachers (experimental group; N=441) were compared to students of a control group (N=141), using self-reports applied before and after the investigation. Significant differences were found between the experimental group students and those in the control group, regarding the decrease of negative emotions, while no significant difference were found for positive emotions or well-being, as reported by the students. Regarding gender differences, the results were significant for the male students, who showed a decrease in their negative emotions, when compared to the female students. Results are discussed in light of the contemporary literature on this subject, aiming to reflect on future investigation and intervention in this matter.
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