Resumen

MORALES RODRIGUEZ, Marisol; BENITEZ HERNANDEZ, Marisol  y  AGUSTIN SANTOS, Diana. Life Skills (Cognitive and Social) in Teenagers in a Rural Area. REDIE [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.3, pp.98-113. ISSN 1607-4041.

A life skills-based approach allows the development of psychosocial skills in adolescents, particularly, cognitive and social skills that play a fundamental role. This concept gives rise to the objective of the present study, which is to strengthen, through the implementation of two psychoeducational intervention programs, cognitive skills such as self-efficacy and coping, as well as social skills, in middle school adolescents in a rural area. It is based on a quantitative methodology with a pre-experimental design of correlational descriptive scope involving 96 adolescents. The results showed an improvement in social skills; additionally, an association was found between advanced social skills and self-efficacy, as well as between active coping and social skills. No changes in self-efficacy and coping were observed. We conclude that the program was effective in improving teenagers' social skills; however, more time is required for the improvement of cognitive abilities, given the conditions in rural areas.

Palabras llave : Cognitive ability; social ability; adolescents; rural areas; educational psychology.