Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a crucial pathway for cultivating students’ social-emotional skills and promoting their holistic development. This study presents the first meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions implemented in the PreK-12 educational context of mainland China. Based on 52 studies involving 13,969 students, the analysis reveals a significant, medium overall effect (ES = 0.56), demonstrating the positive impact of school-based SEL programs on Chinese students’ development. However, given that the majority of included studies employed quasi-experimental designs with relatively small sample sizes, this effect should be interpreted as primarily reflecting efficacy under controlled conditions rather than effectiveness in real-world implementation contexts. Outcomes vary by domain, with the strongest effects observed in social-emotional skills (ES = 0.63), followed by academic performance (ES = 0.34), behaviors (ES = 0.31), and affect and attitudes (ES = 0.24). Moderator analyses further reveal that sample size, intervention dosage, implementer, and grade level significantly influenced effect sizes, whereas publication type, duration, source of outcome data, and intervention approach did not. Cross-cultural comparisons further contextualize these findings within the international SEL literature. By establishing an initial evidence base, this review highlights the promise of school-based SEL in China, while also noting limitations in external and ecological validity. Future research should prioritize more large-scale RCTs, focus on the quality of implementation, and address the needs of marginalized student groups.
Lin et al. (2026) studied this question.