Embodied social robots (ESRs) are increasingly discussed in early childhood education, yet evidence on their relation to preschoolers’ social–emotional competence (SEC) remains fragmented. This scoping review synthesizes 25 peer-reviewed studies involving preschool-aged children and maps 86 child-level SEC findings across six condensed domains, measurement approaches, robot/intervention characteristics, and implementation contexts. Findings were mixed. Positive results were most often reported for proximal indicators of participation, engagement, and communication, whereas broader or more complex SEC-related outcomes showed more no-effect or mixed patterns. Outcome patterns also varied by methodology: behavioral observation and structured tasks more often captured positive change than interviews or system-recorded indicators, which were rarely supported by documented reliability or validation procedures. Only about one-third of findings reported psychometric validation. Most interventions relied on low-autonomy, non-personalized robots embedded in adult-guided activities, with uneven reporting of technical stability, implementation fidelity, and teacher preparedness/involvement. Overall, current evidence supports a cautious interpretation of ESRs as bounded, teacher-mediated supports rather than stand-alone solutions and points to the need for stronger measurement reporting, more ecologically grounded classroom research, and clearer ethical safeguards.
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