Antinienė, Dalia

Įvadas. Ikimokyklinis ugdymas vis labiau susiduria su pedagogų trūkumo ir kaitos iššūkiais. Remiantis NŠA Pedagogų poreikio prognoze (Jakštas ir Venckutė- Jakštė, 2025), 2026-2031 m. pedagoginį darbą turėtų palikti apie 4700 ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogų. Situaciją komplikuoja daugiau nei trečdalio jaunų specialistų pasitraukimas iš profesijos ir artėjantis didelės pedagogų dalies pensinis amžius. Todėl tyrime siekiama atsigręžti ne į išorinius darbo aplinkos veiksnius, bet į peda- gogų asmeninius profesinius resursus, ypač socialines-emocines kompetencijas, galinčias būti svarbias pasitenkinimui profesija, darbo aplinka ir išlikimui švietimo sistemoje. Metodai. Tyrime dalyvavo 89 ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogai. Tyrimas vykdy- tas dešimtyje ikimokyklinį ugdymą vykdančių įstaigų, esančių skirtinguose Lietuvos regijonuose. Mokytojų pasitenkinimas profesija ir darbo aplinka vertintas OECD pa- rengtomis skalėmis „Pasitenkinimas mokytojo profesija“ ir „Pasitenkinimas esama darbo aplinka“ (Viac & Fraser, 2020). Mokytojų socialinės-emocinės kompetenci- jos matuotos Daugiamačiu mokytojų socialinių-emocinių kompetencijų vertinimo instrumentu (Lee ir kt., 2025). Rezultatai. Ikimokyklinių įstaigų mokytojai geriausiai vertina socialinio sąmo- ningumo lygybei ir įtraukčiai gebėjimą (M = 5,56, SD = 0,52). Prasčiausiai - emocijų valdymo gebėjimus (M = 4,66, SD = 0,63). Sudarytas pasitenkinimo esama darbo aplinka daugiaveiksnis tiesinės regresijos modelis atskleidė, kad pasitenkinimas pro- fesija buvo reikšmingiausias veiksnys pasitenkinimui esama darbo aplinka (B = 0,49, p <0,001). Santykių kūrimo gebėjimai taip pat buvo svarbus veiksnys pasitenkinimui darbo aplinka (B = 0,29, p = 0,011). Kiti veiksniai, tokie kaip pasitenkinimas darbu, atsakingų sprendimų priėmimo gebėjimas, socialinis sąmoningumas mokinių gero- vei nebuvo reikšmingi numatant mokytojų pasitenkinimą esama darbo aplinka. Išvados. Rezultatai rodo, kad pedagogų pasitenkinimui darbo aplinka svarbiausi yra pasitenkinimas profesija ir santykių kompetencijos, o kiti kompetencijų aspektai gali veikti netiesiogiai. Norint spręsti ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogų trūkumo prob- lemą, svarbu investuoti į pedagogų asmeninius gebejimų vystymą.

Traditional long-term, in-person emotional intelligence (EI) education programmes had to be reoriented towards short-term remote learning during the pandemic. This raises the question whether statistically significant results can be achieved relatively quickly through remote EI education, while maintaining key theoretical and methodological principles. The study aimed to develop the structure and content of a remote programme and assess its effectiveness across the individual dimensions of EI (understanding and managing one's own emotions, understanding and managing the emotions of others). The programme’s effectiveness was tested in a quasi-experiment involving 36 students from different Lithuanian universities (Mage = 22.86, SD = 3.22). Participants were divided into two groups of 18: an experimental group and a control group. EI measurement and change assessment were performed using the Schutte et al. (1998) scale. A short-term programme consisting of three remote sessions, each lasting two hours, was designed with clearly defined training methods. An independent samples t-test showed that the EI level of the students who participated in the programme was significantly higher than that of the students in the control group, t(34) = 4.203, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.31. The study revealed significant differences between the groups before and after the intervention. Analyses of the individual dimensions of EI showed a positive effect of emotional intelligence training when comparing the experimental and control groups (p < 0.001). It can be concluded that the developed, relatively short duration remote EI education programme is effective among Lithuanian students.

In these theses, we present a recently initiated study, the aim of which is to improve the quality of education by analyzing the needs and competences of teachers, while improving their social, emotional, and research competences, and involving them in the process of implementing changes as well as in the application of a new preventative program in the process of children’s psychosocial education.

Introduction: In the scientific literature, medical students’ emotional intelligence is associated with better professional achievements, higher quality of patient care, and lower levels of burnout. Self-compassion may help reduce experienced stress and enhance psychological well-being. Although emotional intelligence and self-compassion are important competencies for future physicians, research examining the interplay between these constructs is still lacking. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap. Methods: The study involved 234 medical students (years I–VI) from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. The participants’ mean age was 22.14 ± 3.51 years. The questionnaire consisted of the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and sociodemographic questions. Results: The findings revealed that medical students demonstrated a relatively high level of emotional intelligence. No statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence were found based on sociodemographic variables. Medical students showed a moderate level of self-compassion. They were significantly more likely (p < 0.001) to apply positive self-compassion strategies than negative ones. A statistically significant association was found between self-compassion and age (p < 0.001). A weak but statistically significant positive correlation was identified between emotional intelligence and self-compassion (rho = 0.41, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Emotional intelligence among medical students was not associated with sex, age, or study year. Self-compassion was related to some sociodemographic characteristics, excluding sex. A statistically significant association between emotional intelligence and self-compassion was observed in the sample of medical students.

Although Artificial Intelligence and its applications in medicine are growing rapidly, its integration into mental health remains at an early stage. The aim of the study is to evaluate psychology students’ attitudes and the significance of brief interventions towards Artificial Intelligence systems and their application in mental healthcare. The study involved 62 psychology students (M= 23.19±4.69; 85.5% women). Thirty-one participants tested the Artificial Intelligence-based emotional support app Wysa, and thirty-one others watched a presentation on the use of Artificial Intelligence in providing psychological assistance, based on the latest scientific research. Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence were assessed before and after the interventions using the General Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence Scale and an adapted version of the Questionnaire for Attitudes Toward Medical Application of Artificial Intelligence to examine psychologists’ attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in their work. During interventions, facial expression analysis software FaceReader was used to assess participants’ emotions. Following a scientific presentation, participants showed significative increases in positive attitudes, compared to those who used Wysa. While improvements in negative attitudes were noted, these did not differ significantly between groups. Positive changes in perceived Artificial Intelligence advantages were positively associated with feelings of surprise and fear, and negatively with contempt and disgust. Perceived Artificial Intelligence disadvantages correlated positively with contempt. The scientific presentation helped students develop more positive attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence, suggesting that education on Artificial Intelligence is important in shaping future psychologists’ view on new technologies. Emotional responses (particularly surprise, fear, disgust, and contempt) played a significant role in these attitude changes.

Objective: The term "concentration" in German and Lithuanian is used synonymously with the term "attention" or considered as its sub-construct. High concentration requires effective integration of attention[1] components, enabling sustained selection, coordination, and control of actions through wilful effort[2]. Concentration training in preschoolers is crucial due to their rapid cognitive development and the influence of gene-environment interactions, improving cognitive skills and behaviour control. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Marburger Concentration Training (MKT)[3] for preschoolers in Lithuania by assessing changes in their concentration abilities.

Methods: A comprehensive survey led by the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (Department of Health Psychology) in cooperation with Austrian colleagues was conducted across four Lithuanian districts in 2021. A subgroup of 47 five-years-olds was assigned to either a training group (TG, N=23; 12 MKT sessions over six weeks) or an age-matched control group (CG, N=24). Both groups included children with and without behavioural, attention, and emotional problems. Concentration was assessed by measuring task errors before and after training using the KHV-VK[4].

Results: A significant improvement in concentration, reflected by a reduction in errors, was observed in the TG (Z=-3.954, p<0.001, r=0.58), as well as across both low- and high-concentration subgroups and gender subgroups. While a reduction in errors was also observed in the CG, it was less pronounced. Notably, the results within the groups exhibited considerable variability.

Conclusions: The MKT moderately enhanced concentration in 5-year-olds, particularly in boys and in those with lower baseline scores. The implementation of the MKS in the preschool setting proved valuable, despite a short training period and inconsistency of results.

Research has shown that interventions using social-emotional competence development can prevent a child’s future behavior problems, antisocial behavior, and many other risks[1]. One of the empirically based programs is ELLA training for the promotion of emotional and social competences, developed in Austria[2]. The implementation of the program in Lithuania consists of two parts.

1. The research of effectiveness of the ELLA for preschool children was performed in 2021. 140 children aged 3–6 years participated in the study. Children’s emotional and social competences were assessed before and after the program using the EMK 3–6 inventory[3]. Results showed that the ELLA training significantly improved children’s self-regulation abilities, primary emotions, secondary emotions, prosocial behavior competences.

2. Researchers from Lithuania and Austria will perform the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of lithuanian version of ELLA for primary school. The sample will consist of 450 children. The assessment of the children will be carried out using the ELLA screening questionnaires for parents and teachers and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 6-18) for parents. Focus groups for teachers on the competencies acquired of children through the ELLA program will be performed.

Introduction. Although scientific literature emphasizes the importance of both emotional intelligence and self-compassion for medical students, there is a lack of research examining the interaction between these phenomena within this sample. This study aims to reveal the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-compassion among medical students. Methods. The study included 234 medical students from the 1st to 6th year at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, aged 18–46 years (M = 22.14, SD = 3.51), 195 females (84.1%) and 37 males (15.9%). Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire, which included the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and three socio-demographic questions. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS, applying descriptive statistics, independent samples tests, and correlation analysis. Results. The median total emotional intelligence score among medical students was 125 (IQR: 116–135) (min. 70; max. 163), indicating a relatively high level of emotional intelligence. No statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence were found based on gender, age, or year of study. The average self-compassion score was 2.89 (IQR: 2.48–3.24) (min. 1.49; max. 4.09), suggesting a moderate level of self-compassion. Students were significantly more likely (p < 0.001) to employ positive self-compassion strategies (e.g., common humanity, mindfulness) rather than negative ones (e.g., self-criticism, isolation). A statistically significant relationship was found between self-compassion and age (p < 0.001). A weak but significant positive correlation was identified between emotional intelligence and self-compassion (rho = 0.41, p < 0.001). The strongest associations were found between the emotional awareness subscale and the common humanity and mindfulness subscales (p < 0.001), as well as between self-emotion management and self-kindness, self-criticism, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification (p < 0.001). Additionally, strong associations were observed between the management of others’ emotions and self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, as well as between the use of emotions and common humanity and mindfulness (p < 0.001).

Student satisfaction with learning is an important factor allowing to achieve the best possible study outcomes. It can be influenced, through various intermediate factors or directly, by a broader social, cultural, economic, and political context. The thesis presents rationale for a planned study among university students in Lithuania, Ukraine, and France. The study will examine satisfaction with learning among students from the three countries, which all represent Western cultures but differ in their political and social situation under the circumstances of the ongoing war or the threat of war of different levels. Thus, they possibly differ in how much their students experience stress, anxiety, depression and other negative emotional states. The aim of the study is to analyze the relationships between the need for cognition, negative emotional states and emotional intelligence among university students, and to determine their relation to the satisfaction with learning. The study chose to analyze satisfaction with learning using the need for cognition construct, which is not sufficiently emphasized by researchers. Data will be collected through an electronic questionnaire using the Need for Cognition Scale (1982), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (1995), Emotional Intelligence Scale (1998), and a socio-demographic questionnaire designed by the authors. The expected sample is about 500 students in total, from all three countries. The study will examine the constructs that have already been widely analyzed, individually and in some combinations, in the field of learning by both psychologists and educational scientists. Some of the works emphasized recently that learning satisfaction is related to the need for cognition [1] and the emotional states of students [2], but there is a lack of research revealing the effect of emotional intelligence on them. Emotional intelligence manifests itself as greater self-control, the ability to understand and regulate emotions [3], so it allows hypothesizing its negative relationship with negative emotional states and a positive relationship with the need for cognition, which requires emotional resources. The study is expected to provide new insights next to existing models of the relationships between the aforementioned phenomena and to allow confirming or denying the universality of their links in different cultural and social environments. As the study will lead to better understanding of the factors that determine students’ satisfaction with learning, it will contribute to the development of measures to increase the latter, and psychological well-being of students on the whole

The consequences of compulsive buying include various social and psychological ills that affect not only the person exhibiting such behaviour (e.g., lower wellbeing, more frequent interpersonal conflicts due to uncontrolled behaviour, financial problems, etc.) but also the world in general: excessive consumption leads to more landfills, higher energy use and carbon emissions into the atmosphere (e.g., Rodrigues, Lopes, & Miguel Varela, 2021[2] and others). Following this, a question arises: are there ways to influence an individual’s thinking, attitudes, and behaviour to reduce excessive buying. Some research suggests that personalities with higher emotional intelligence are less likely to succumb to impulsive buying behaviour (Tariq, Ali Bhatti, Khan, & Qadir, 2021 [4] and others). Emotional intelligence is defined as a set of abilities that help to cope with various emotional information (Mayer & Salovey, 1997) [1] and, in relation to impulsive purchases, to help an individual cope with emerging negative emotions and feelings and choose a more thoughtful course of action. The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis: consumers trained in emotional abilities will exhibit significantly lower level of impulsive buying than those in a control group. An experimental study was conducted among students from Lithuanian Universities. As many as 67 students volunteered to take part in the quasiexperiment online. Firstly, students were asked to complete the initial screening questionnaire to determine their inclinations to impulsive buying and their emotional intelligence. Compulsive buying was measured using Valence et al. (1988) scale [5]; the emotional intelligence scale we used is the Schutte et al. (1998) [3]. The final sample consisted of 36 participants. The respondents’ age ranged from 18 to 32, with the average age being 22.86 (SD = 3.22). The research was conducted fully online. The quasi-experimental design has been adopted with the independent variable being emotional intelligence and the dependent variable being impulsive buying. The participants were divided into two groups: intervention and control. The intervention group was (n = 18) randomly assigned and participated in an emotional intelligence development programme. The programme has been developed by psychology researchers of this study. The design of the current intervention included discussion, examples, paired exercises, emotion diaries, readings, reflection, and feedback. Those methods helped to understand and manage one’s own and others’ emotions. Control group (n = 18) did not participate in the training programme. The comparability of both groups is very important for experimental research, thus we have checked the difference between the experiment and control group and found that these two groups did not differ from each other with respect to their gender and age: t(35) = 17.75, p < 0.001. Results of the independent samples t-test showed that participants in the training-based emotional intelligence intervention group reported a significantly higher level of emotional intelligence (N = 18, M = 3.66, SD = 0.26) than participants in the control group (N = 18, M = 3.22, SD = 0.35), t(34) = 4.203, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.31, which indicates that the training-based emotional intelligence intervention was successful. Moreover, results of the independent samples t-test showed that participants in the training-based EI interventions group reported significantly lower level of impulsive buying (N = 18, M = 2.09, SD = 0.50) than participants in the control group (N = 18, M = 2.63, SD = 0.67), t(34) = -2.722, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.59. These results indicate that the trainingbased emotional intelligence intervention was successful and support the hypothesis, which postulates that respondents who participate in the training-based EI intervention will have lower level of compulsive buying than those in a control group. A number of limitations must be acknowledged. The first limitation denotes the small sample size of our study. The second limitation is associated with the specifics of the sample of the subjects, namely, university students; thus, the study results could not be generalised for other population groups. In summary, the research revealed that emotional intelligence training programmes could effectively reduce consumer impulsive buying. Interventions, along with elements of psychoeducation, can be used to raise consumer awareness and to educate more sustainable behaviour. This finding may be helpful for professionals working with individuals who have difficulty with impulsive purchasing and other associated risks.