Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3183-2965

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Problem/Project Report

Degree Type

OTD

College

School of Medicine

Department

Occupational Therapy

Committee Chair

Breanna Adkins

Committee Co-Chair

Gretta Hill

Committee Member

Pamela Shope

Committee Member

Kayleigh Nolan

Committee Member

Heather Livengood

Abstract

Social-emotional competence is a prerequisite to school performance and participation in daily tasks. Children in West Virginia face social and emotional barriers including the effects of the opioid epidemic leading to children placed in foster care, born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, and being exposed to toxic stress in the home environment. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children's social-emotional functioning due to isolation periods. Social-emotional programming can improve children's well-being, school performance, relationships, and outcomes later in life. Occupational therapy practitioners can use data-driven decision-making and relationship-centered practice to develop group-based, health-promotion social-emotional programming in the preschool setting. The purpose of the study is to add social-emotional support to the preschool curriculum to support preschoolers’ social-emotional needs. This study included three preschoolers and 20 teachers. A mixed methods approach was utilized to assess social-emotional competence, feasibility, and effectiveness of a social-emotional program delivered to preschool students. The findings suggested that children improved in social-emotional competence and teachers believed the program was feasible and effective. This study can inform occupational therapists, early childhood educators, and stakeholders on holistic, collaborative ways to support preschoolers’ social-emotional needs.

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