The longitudinal association between pre-service teachers’ social-emotional competence and career adaptation: A three-wave cross-lagged analysis during the teaching internship period

The teaching practicum represents a critical period for pre-service teachers’ professional role transition and career adaptation. To gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between psychological resources and professional development during this process, this study examined the longitudinal interplay among social-emotional competence, psychological resilience, and career adaptability. Using a cross-lagged panel model, 1518 pre-service teachers in Xinjiang, China, participated in a three-wave longitudinal survey over a six-month practicum period. The results revealed that: (1) After controlling for the autoregressive effects of the variables, a significant bidirectional predictive relationship existed between social-emotional competence and career adaptability; (2) The strength of this dynamic interplay diminished as the practicum progressed; (3) Psychological resilience mediated the longitudinal relationship between social-emotional competence and career adaptability. These findings elucidate the dynamic developmental mechanisms of professional psychological resources in pre-service teachers during the practicum, providing important empirical evidence for constructing a teacher education support system that fosters a bidirectional "psychological-practical" enhancement.