Promotion of Social Emotional Competencies to Manage and Prevent Acculturative Stress in Venezuelan Migrant Women

Abstract

This article briefly presents the results of an intervention program in Social Emotional Learning aimed at Venezuelan migrant women for the management and prevention of acculturative stress. Initially, an outline of the program requirements was developed through the application and analysis of questionnaires to identify the causes of acculturative stress, as well as socio-emotional competencies in a group of 17 Venezuelan women living in Chile, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. An 8-session program was implemented over two months, based on the needs expressed by the participants, mainly promoting self-awareness and self-regulation skills, as strategies to manage and prevent stress resulting from migration. The modality of the intervention program was virtual due to the pandemic that hit the world in 2019. After implementation and through various online evaluations, valuable information was collected that allows us to conclude its effectiveness and the most appropriate methodology to reach favorable results. The participants managed to identify the causes of acculturative stress and increased their ability to feel, express, understand and regulate their emotions through the cultivation of socio-emotional skills and the practice of mindfulness. It would be advisable to start a longitudinal investigation to evaluate the long-term results and anticipate reinforcement measures at certain time intervals. It seems necessary that these types of workshops grow towards the constitution of self-managed support networks with intermittent reinforcement of socio-emotional education.