PANDHEMOT: AN EVIDENCE-BASED TRAINING TO INCREASE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS’ KNOWLEDGE ON PANDEMICS AND EMOTIONS

Preventing the negative effects of pandemics on children and adolescents’ mental health is pivotal. This can be done promoting their emotional competence, i.e., the ability to express, understand, and regulate emotions (Denham, 1998). Therefore, we tested the PandHEMOT (Pandemics – Helmet for EMOTions) training, aimed at increasing children and adolescents’ knowledge on pandemics, emotions, and emotion regulation strategies. The sample involved 147 third (Mage = 8.35, SD = 0.28) and seventh-graders (Mage = 12.40, SD = 0.30), divided into an experimental and a control group. Students from the experimental group participated to a 3-unit training using the PandHEMOT app with tablets and headphones. All the students filled in questionnaires about their knowledge in pre and post-training phases. Through Generalized/Linear Mixed Models, we found significant Group x Phase interactions. The findings indicated that participating to the training increased knowledge on: pandemics, protective measures, facial expression, emotional lexicon, and emotion regulation strategies. Moreover, wellbeing did not decrease after the training. This study supported the efficacy of the PandHEMOT training in fostering children and adolescents’ resilience, following the evidence- based research standards.