The Mediating Role of the Components of Social-Emotional Competence in Relationship Between Mindfulness and Academic Performance

The purpose of this study was to test the proposed model of the relationship between mindfulness and academic performance with the mediation of social-emotional competence. The research method was fundamental in purpose and correlation and structural equation analysis in data collection. The statistical population included 23,681 people (12,556 girls, 11,125 boys) of the second grade of elementary school in the academic year 2018-2019, and a sample of 380 subjects (225 girls and 155 boys) was selected using cluster sampling. Research instruments included the Mindfulness, Attention, and Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ), and the Academic Performance Test (APT). Structural equation model analysis using SPSS version 22 and LISREL version 8.8 was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the proposed model had a good fit with the data. The results indicated that the direct effect of mindfulness on the components of social-emotional competence was positive and significant. The direct effect of social-emotional competence on academic performance was also positive. The results indicated that the components of social-emotional competence had a significant mediating role between mindfulness and academic performance. The results suggest that high levels of mindfulness play an effective role in enhancing social-emotional competencies and that improving children’s social-emotional competencies has a positive effect on academic performance.