4 - Social Relationships in Adolescence: Skill Development and Training

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by change across many different areas of functioning. Developmental changes within the individual include advanced cognitive–verbal skills, reasoning abilities, and growth and maturational changes associated with puberty. Adolescence entails exposure to a range of new social interaction situations and social roles. Dating, working with others in a part-time job, or spending time with peers in the absence of adult supervision are social activities not encountered until adolescence. There are different conduct expectations of adolescents compared to children. Teenagers are permitted and expected to behave in a more adult-like, independent manner across a variety of social interactions. This chapter discusses how adolescents acquire the skills needed to function effectively in the new social situations. It reviews research on the frequency and the nature of social skill deficits observed in adolescents and describes the learning mechanisms that may account for the naturalistic development of socially skilled behavior. The chapter further reviews and evaluates the outcomes of research interventions that have attempted to enhance the social skill behavior of adolescents.