Toward a Bio-Psycho-Social Understanding of Social and Emotional Skills Development in Primary and Middle Schools

This dissertation investigates the development of Social and Emotional Skills (SES) in school settings through a biopsychosocial framework that integrates biological, environmental, and professional dimensions. Biologically, it foregrounds cardiac vagal tone (CVT) as a psychophysiological index of self-regulation. Environmentally, it examines students’ perceptions of classroom climate and the role of cooperative learning (CL), including a technology-supported implementation via PeerLearning.net. Professionally, it analyzes teachers’ well-being as a pivotal yet often overlooked condition for sustaining socio-emotional growth. Across interconnected studies conducted in authentic school contexts, findings show that CVT does not directly account for between-student differences in SES. Rather, CVT moderates sensitivity to context: supportive classroom climates yield the most significant benefits for children with higher vagal regulation, whereas students with lower CVT are less responsive to positive environments. Two large-scale studies in Italian primary and middle schools indicate that structured, fidelity-driven CL—especially when supported by digital tools—enhances cooperative behaviors as well as socio-emotional outcomes, including emotional knowledge, social awareness, and relationship skills. A national survey of teachers reveals elevated stress and burnout, underscoring the importance of teacher well-being in maintaining the socio-emotional climate essential for student development. Taken together, the dissertation reveals that SES growth emerges from dynamic transactions among biological sensitivity, classroom processes, and professional conditions. It argues for tailored supports for children with lower self-regulation, systematic attention to safe and nurturing classroom climates, rigorous multi-method SES assessment, and scalable CL practices embedded in daily instruction. The implications for policy and practice emphasize the need for systemic investment in teachers’ professional and emotional resources to enhance schools’ capacity to foster SES.