Psychological Counseling Program for Emotional Intelligence and Learning Motivation in Children With Language Learning Difficulties

September 15, 2026 updated by: King Faisal University

Beyond Learning Difficulties: Effectiveness of a Psychological Counseling Program in Developing Emotional Intelligence and Enhancing Learning Motivation Among Children With Language Learning Difficulties

This study examines the effectiveness of a psychological counseling program designed to develop emotional intelligence and enhance learning motivation among children with language learning difficulties. The study includes 360 children from 20 schools in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. Participants were divided into an experimental group that received the psychological counseling program and a control group that did not receive the program. Emotional intelligence and learning motivation were assessed before and after the intervention. Interviews were also conducted with children in the experimental group and teachers to explore perceived changes following participation in the program.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
360

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Plaintext

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Primary school fourth-grade students aged 9-10 years.
  • Identified with language learning difficulties.
  • Enrolled in the school where the study is conducted.
  • Informed consent provided by parents or legal guardians, along with student assent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe sensory, neurological, or intellectual impairments that prevent active group participation.
  • Concurrent participation in other formal emotional or psychological group interventions during the study period.
  • Unwillingness or inability to commit to attending the required group sessions.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Experimental Group: Counseling Program
experimental group that received the psychological counseling program
Behavioral: Psychological Counseling Program
The intervention in this study is distinguished by the following structural, theoretical, and practical features: Theoretical Framework Integration: Grounded in Mayer and Salovey's Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence, the intervention uniquely applies the Beyond Learning Difficulties framework and the Bio-Psycho-Social Model. Rather than focusing solely on linguistic remediation or academic deficit repair, it conceptualizes language learning difficulties as a multidimensional condition interacting with emotional, motivational, and social factors. Integrated Target Outcomes: It explicitly targets the dual enhancement of emotional intelligence (emotional knowledge, emotion regulation, emotion management, empathy, and social communication) and learning motivation (learning interest/engagement, persistence/effort, self-confidence/achievement motivation). Delivery Schedule & Setting: Delivered as a school-based group counseling program consisting of 34 structured group sessions over
Experimental: Control Group: No Counseling Program
Participants in this arm receive standard curriculum without the psychological counseling program
Behavioral: Psychological Counseling Program
The intervention in this study is distinguished by the following structural, theoretical, and practical features: Theoretical Framework Integration: Grounded in Mayer and Salovey's Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence, the intervention uniquely applies the Beyond Learning Difficulties framework and the Bio-Psycho-Social Model. Rather than focusing solely on linguistic remediation or academic deficit repair, it conceptualizes language learning difficulties as a multidimensional condition interacting with emotional, motivational, and social factors. Integrated Target Outcomes: It explicitly targets the dual enhancement of emotional intelligence (emotional knowledge, emotion regulation, emotion management, empathy, and social communication) and learning motivation (learning interest/engagement, persistence/effort, self-confidence/achievement motivation). Delivery Schedule & Setting: Delivered as a school-based group counseling program consisting of 34 structured group sessions over

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Learning Motivation Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and 4 months (post-intervention)
The final version of the Learning Motivation Scale consists of 30 items across three dimensions: (1) Learning Interest and Engagement (9 items), assessing children's interest in learning activities, willingness to participate, and positive attitudes toward classroom learning experiences; (2) Persistence and Effort in Learning (10 items), assessing children's ability to maintain effort, persist in completing academic tasks, and overcome learning difficulties; and (3) Self-Confidence and Achievement Motivation (11 items), assessing children's confidence in their learning abilities, desire to achieve success, and willingness to engage in challenging learning activities. Items are rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). Negatively worded items are reverse-scored before calculating the total and dimension scores. The total score ranges from 30 to 150, with higher scores indicating higher levels of learning motivation.
Baseline and 4 months (post-intervention)
Emotional Intelligence Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and 4 months (post-intervention)
The final version of the Emotional Intelligence Scale consists of 60 items across five dimensions: (1) Emotion Management (13 items), (2) Empathy (12 items), (3) Emotion Regulation (13 items), (4) Emotional Knowledge (12 items), and (5) Social Communication (10 items). Items are rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Negatively worded items are reverse-scored before calculating the total and subscale scores. The total score ranges from 60 to 300, with higher scores indicating higher levels of emotional intelligence.
Baseline and 4 months (post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
King Faisal University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Rommel MA AlAli, King Faisal University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 6, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 15, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • KFU-REC-2024Dec-EA000805
  • KFU265147 (Other Grant/Funding Number: King Faisal University)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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