Preliminary trial of a well-being diary with Japanese primary school students

Abstract

The well-being of Japanese children has been reported to be low, compared with children in other developed countries. However, there has been a lack of social and emotional education specially designed to promote the well-being of this demographic. To address this gap, the authors developed a well-being diary (WE diary) suited for the Japanese school context during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was a two-arm controlled trial to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of the WE diary using the social and emotional learning approach. The participants comprised Japanese primary school students aged 7–8 (35 females and 34 males) who volunteered for this 8-week program, which was implemented during 10–15-minute extra class periods. The students in the WE diary group and waitlist conditions completed questionnaires at three time points, under the supervision of the teacher. Based on the findings, there were significant positive changes in the scores for well-being and perceived social support, indicating the feasibility of this program in Japanese primary schools. The overall usefulness of the well-being diary among this demographic could motivate researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to promote social and emotional learning in Japanese schools.