The purpose of this study was to clarify changes in social and emotional skills (SES)―specifically gender- and grade-based differences―over a three-year period from fourth through sixth grade using longitudinal data. The participants were 205 elementary school children (99 boys and 106 girls). A questionnaire survey was administered annually over the three years using a 21-item, seven-factor SES assessment scale. After excluding missing or incomplete responses, 558 data points were available for analysis. The sum of all 21 items was used as the total SES score, and the sum of the three items within each factor was used as the subscale scores. A two-way analysis of variance with one repeated-measures factor was conducted to examine gender and grade differences in the total SES score and subscale scores. For both boys and girls, fourth- and fifth-grade students had significantly higher total SES scores than sixth-grade students. For the respect factor, girls scored higher than boys, and scores increased with grade level, with fifth- and sixth-grade students scoring significantly higher than fourth-grade students. Girls also scored significantly higher than boys on the consideration factor. Fourth graders scored significantly higher than sixth graders on the perseverance factor, significantly higher than fifth and sixth graders on the self-control factor, and significantly higher than fifth and sixth graders on the sociability factor. In conclusion, children’s SES tended to decline as they progressed from fourth to sixth grade. The results also indicate that gender and grade differences vary depending on the specific SES factor.
