ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicNon-Cognitive Skills: Advances in Construct Measurement and DevelopmentView all articles
Investigating the Influence of Adolescents' Social and Emotional Skills on Health Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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Background In the context of heightened social competition and increasing academic pressure, promoting the healthy development of adolescents has become a critical concern. This study investigates the impact and mechanisms through which adolescents' social and emotional skills influence their health behavior. Specifically, we hypothesized that social and emotional skills would positively affect health behavior, with test and class anxiety mediating and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships moderating this relationship. Methods Using data from the 2023 OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, this study employed a moderated mediation model to analyze the relationships between variables. The sample consisted of 6,737 adolescents, comprising 3454 10-year-olds (51.3%) and 3283 15-year-olds (48.7%); 3484 were boys (51.7%) and 3253 were girls (48.3%). Key variables assessed included social and emotional skills (e.g., task performance, emotional regulation), health behaviors (e.g., diet, exercise, sleep), test and class anxiety, and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships. Statistical analyses included Harman's single-factor test for common method bias, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and PROCESS macro in SPSS to test mediation and moderation effects. Results The study found that adolescents' social and emotional skills positively influence their health behavior, with a significant direct effect (β = 0.375, p < 0.001) and an indirect effect mediated by test and class anxiety (6.68% of total effect, 95% CI [0.017, 0.033]). Satisfaction with interpersonal relationships moderated both the direct effect of social and emotional skills on health behavior and the reduction of test anxiety by these skills. Higher relationship satisfaction strengthened the direct effect (β = 0.340 vs. β = 0.250 for low vs. high satisfaction) and amplified the anxiety-reduction effect (β = -0.262 vs. β = -0.168 for high vs. low satisfaction). Conclusion This study highlights the critical role of social and emotional skills in promoting healthy behaviors among adolescents and underscores the importance of interpersonal relationships in moderating these effects. The results provide insights for policymakers and educators to design This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article interventions that foster both social and emotional skills and supportive relational environments to enhance adolescent well-being.
Keywords: social and emotional skills, Health Behavior, Test and class anxiety, Satisfactionwith the interpersonal relationships, moderated mediation
Received: 24 Sep 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Wang, Cui, Zhang, Wang, Wang and Alsudais. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zihan Wang
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