Ecological and Predictive Indicators of Social and Emotional Skills among Korean Adolescents: A Person-Centered Analysis within the OECD SSES Framework

This study investigates the multidimensional structure and ecological predictors of Korean adolescents’ socio-emotional skills using a person-centered, data-driven approach grounded in the OECD Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) framework. Utilizing nationally representative data from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS; N = 2,275), latent profile analysis identified three distinct subgroups: (1) Holistically Competent and Well-Adjusted (20.1%), (2) Emotionally Sensitive but Socially Withdrawn (47.5%), and (3) Cognitively Engaged but Emotionally Detached (32.4%). To determine ecological predictors of subgroup membership, a stacked ensemble machine learning model (CAWPE) was employed, integrating individual, familial, and school-level variables. The most influential predictors included parental cognitive empathy and creativity, adolescents’ self-esteem, peer and teacher relationships, household income, and engagement in leisure and career-related activities. Findings reveal that socio-emotional development in early adolescence is not a linear process but a multidimensional interplay of psychological, relational, and contextual factors within proximal ecological systems. By empirically operationalizing the OECD SSES framework using large-scale national data, this study provides a novel cross-level validation of socio-emotional skill indicators and demonstrates how person-centered and predictive analytics can inform evidence-based, developmentally targeted interventions and policy design.