Youth who study at high-pressure coaching institutes need socio-emotional competencies as protective resources to handle the digital world. The research investigates how socio-emotional competencies function as both mediators and moderators between smartphone addiction and digital self-control and subjective well-being using Self-Determination Theory, Ecological Systems Theory and resilience frameworks. Whereas the existing research confirms a correlation between smartphone addiction and lower life satisfaction and increased level of psychological distress, the dynamics of these constructs have not been thoroughly studied, specifically in competitive coaching settings. The current research investigates whether Socio-Emotional Competencies (SECs) play the role of a mediator or moderator in the relationships among Smartphone Addiction (SA), Digital Self-Control (DSC), and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) in group of coaching students. The research design includes a cross-sectional study which will recruit 325 participants who are 16 to 20 years old from different coaching institutes from a mid-level city of the state of Rajasthan, India. The research will use the Socio-Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ), Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Digital Self-Control Scale (adapted from Brief Self-Control Scale), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) to collect data from participants. The research will use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze how SECs function as mediators and moderators. The research predicts to verify that students having stronger socio-emotional competencies will experience better mental health protection against smartphone addiction's negative effects on their subjective well-being.