Emotional education aims to develop emotional and social skills, from the expression and recognition of emotions to emotional regulation. These competences are fundamental in the prosocial skills that must show adolescents and children with or without disorders. Different programs of emotional education in schools are aimed at the students to acquire emotional competencies, and according to their evolutionary development, they are able to value (recognize and express) their own emotions and those of others, while systems for evaluating these emotional competencies in adolescents are being developed. Although it is still necessary to continue to validate and adapt interventions and to specify them more in each case; as well as further validation and creation of evaluation protocols with greater emphasis, it is necessary that all these programs of education or intervention in the emotional competences and the evaluation protocols are adapted and transferred to the educational contexts (schools, high schools,...). It is within this framework that four papers addressing intervention or evaluation of emotional competences in adolescents with different difficulties (behavioral problems, Asperger's syndrome, impulsivity problems, etc.) will be presented in this symposium. In addition, a relevant aspect shared by all papers is the fact that they are carried out with children and adolescents in their educational field.

Inmaculada Gómez is a Professor at the University of Almería (Spain), with favorable accreditation to obtain the highest academic rank that can be reached by a University professor in Spain (“Catedrática”). Her 3 six-year of research period and 4 five-year teaching (with special mention of Teaching Excellence Awards) have been recognized. Her research work is focused on the analysis of risk and protection factors of psychological problems in childhood and adolescence, with an emphasis on emotional intelligence, parental styles of upbringing, the intervention with families using third generation therapies, and virtual reality strategies for the management of emotional distress in children, adolescents and their families. She has more than 110 publications, and has participated in more than 140 national and international congresses, and 10 research projects. She has been advisor for 5 PhD thesis. Dr. Gómez-Becerra is reviewer for national and international journals, and a member of different scientific committees. She is the leader of the research team entitled: “Progress in research and epidemiology in childhood, adolescence and families”. She has participated and / or coordinated different training activities with professionals from different fields (education, psychology, and medicine), and she has carried out numerous schools trainings for parents. She has received the qualification of General Health Psychologist, and collaborates as Family Therapist in Inpaula Neurorehabilitation Center (EBT of the University of Almería).