Building Youth Social Emotional Skills to Buffer the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences

There is an extensive body of research indicating that competency in five social emotional skills lowers risk for the development of mental health symptomology and aggressive behavior in youth. This workshop defines the social emotional skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, healthy relationships and responsible decision making, describes specific approaches that foster youth social emotional competency, and identifies evidence-based measures that track youth current social emotional levels and ongoing growth. Additionally, information on caregiver, school and community programs and resources that focus on social emotional skill building will be provided. 

Participants will be able to:

• Describe the role that social emotional competency plays in buffering the impact of adverse childhood experiences by building resilience and coping skills.

• Define the components of each social emotional skill of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, healthy relationships, and responsible decision making.

• Implement targeted interventions and strategies that foster growth in the five skills and the ability to cope through life stressors and challenges.

• Identify evidence-based measures of social emotional competency in children and adolescents that can track progress following implementation of interventions.

• Tap a range of toolkits and resources that enhance youth social emotional skills during collaboration with caregivers, schools and community organizations.