Alberto Acosta Mesas

Academic performance and social competence of adolescents: predictions based on effortful control and empathy

This study explored the predictive power of effortful control (EC) on empathy, academic performance, and social competence in adolescents. We obtained self-report measures of EC and dispositional empathy in 359 students (197 girls and 162 boys) aged between 12 and 14 years. Each student provided information about the prosocial behavior of the rest of his/her classmates and completed a sociogram. At the end of the school year, we calculated the mean grade of each student and the teacher responsible for each class completed a questionnaire on the academic skills of his/her students. The study confirmed the existence of a structural equation model (SEM) in which EC directly predicted academic performance and social competence. Additionally, empathic concern partially mediated the effect of EC on social competence. Finally, social competence significantly predicted academic performance. The article discusses the practical applications of the model proposed.

Facilitation of heartbeat self-perception in a discrimination task with individual adjustment of the S+ delay values

Thirty-two subjects (16 women, 16 men) performed two tasks that were the result of adapting the heartbeat perception tasks produced by Whitehead et al. [Biofeedback Self-Regul. 2 (1977) 371] and Katkin et al. [Psychophysiology 19 (1982) 568], respectively. In the Whitehead task, the delay values were the standard 128 ms for the S+ stimulus and 384 ms for the S- stimulus after the R-wave in one case; in the other case, the delay values were individually adjusted according to the median of the distribution of interval choices in an adaptation of the Brener and Kluvitse [Psychophysiology 25 (1988a) 554; Psychophysiology 25 (1988b) 436] task carried out previously. In the Katkin procedure, in one case S+ always occurred at a fixed interval (100 ms), whereas S- occurred at uniformly increasing intervals in relation to the R-wave. In the other case, the S+ and S- intervals were also individually modified according to the performance in the Brener and Kluvitse task. The results indicate that when the S+ values are individually adjusted, the sensitivity of subjects, as reflected in the 2(arcsin(p(A)(1/2))) values, significantly improves in the Whitehead task. Additionally, it was seen that the performance deteriorated from the first to the last 50 trials, especially when the S+ values were adjusted.

Predictive Influence of Executive Functions, Effortful Control, Empathy, and Social Behavior on the Academic Performance in Early Adolescents

In this study, we explored the predictive role of behavioral measures of Executive Functions (EFs) and a self-report measure of Effortful Control (EC) on the academic performance of early adolescents. We also analyzed the mediating role of self-reported empathy and social behavior rated by peers (i.e., prosocial behavior and social preference) and by the lead teacher (i.e., social competence). A sample of 244 adolescents aged between 12 and 13 years participated in the study. The resulting structural equation model indicated that EFs and EC predict academic performance in a complementary and independent way. Results also confirmed the mediating role of empathy and social behavior. The final model explained 64% of academic performance. We discuss the appropriateness of obtaining complementary measures of EFs and EC in predictions of academic performance as well as the importance of introducing activities involving self-regulation, empathy, and socioemotional skills in the school setting.