The role of social, emotional, and behavioral skills for nature connectedness, action competence, and proenvironmental behaviors in adolescence

Following indications from international organizations, this study tests the associations between the five domains of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills (self-management, innovation, social engagement, cooperation, and emotional resilience) and two key antecedents of proenvironmental behavior, namely nature connectedness and self-perceived action competence for sustainability, in a sample of 702 students aged between 12 and 20 years (M = 16.18, SD = 2.15; 319 males). Results showed that innovation skills and—to a lesser extent—self-management and cooperation skills are positively associated with both nature connectedness and action competence. An additional exploratory path analysis suggested that the association between SEB (innovation, self-management, and cooperation) skills and proenvironmental behavior could bemediated by action competence and nature connectedness. The study offers new insights into the antecedents of proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors in youth.