Indices Of Social Competence Research Articles

Social Competence of Secondary Schools Adolescents

Indicator of social competence of secondary schools adolescent boys and girls aged 15–16 is analyzed in the article.
 The aim of the investigation is to reveal the level of the indicators of social competence of adolescents aged 15–16 according to their sex.
 Social competence of secondary schools adolescents aged 15–16 is the object study. 371 adolescents (192 girls and 179 boys) aged 15–16 from secondary schools participated in the study. The results of the research that evaluation of boys and girls from secondary schools according to some level of indicators is different. While comparing distribution of different groups of boys and girls according to the level of indicator of social competence statistically reliable difference was revealed: according to general trust (χ²(2) = 8.76; p < 0.05), resistance to failure and criticism (χ²(2) = 7.57; p < 0.05), ability to express feelings (χ²(2) = 6.84; p < 0.05), ability to ash for help (χ²(2) = 9.08; p < 0.05). The results showed that adolescents boys of secondary schools have a higher level of indicators of general self-confidence (p <0.05), resistance to failure and criticism (p < 0.05) than girls.
 It was revealed that girls and disposed to express then feelings (p < 0.05) and are able to ask for help more often (p < 0.05) than boys. However evaluation of secondary schools boys and girls statistically reliably was not different according to such indicators of social competence as uncompromise (p > 0.05), ability to demand (p >0.05), not to feel guilty (p > 0.05).

The changes of cohesion between students’ social skills as the indicator of social competence and socio-demographic factors

One of the main indicators of social competence of personality is social skills. Because the level of de­velopment of social skills is related to many internal and external factors, micro and macro environment, it’s very important to find out their intercorrelations, to evaluate the tendencies of changes from a time pers­pective. The aim of performed survey was to find out how the cohesion of social skills of students and socio-demographic factors changed in the last decade. The first survey was performed in 1998–1999, 623 students from four higher education establishments participated in it. The second survey was performed in 2010–2011, 590 students from seven universities participated in it. In the surveys Ullrich and de Muynck social competence assessment questionnaire (Ullrich and de Muynck, 1998, adapted by Lekavičienė, 1999), which analyses the behaviour according seven factors – (F1) General self-confidence, (F2) Resistance to failures and criticism, (F3) Ability of expressing feelings, (F4) Ability of asking for a favour, (F5) Unyielding, (F6) Ability of demanding, (F7) Feeling not guilty, was used. The internal consistency of factors is sufficient (Cronbach’s alpha varied from 0,60 to 0,80 in both surveys). Statistically significant cohesions were gained (p < 0,05): the importance of gender lessened for two factors of social competence – general self-confidence and feeling not guilty, but the gender is still very important factor to the ability of expressing feelings. The factor of a full family, differently than ten years ago, isn’t important to social competence of students, but in the second survey financial power of family became important and was related to one of the factors of social competence – general self-confidence. The greatest count of cohesions and changes during the last decade between the place of residence (city, town or a village) of students and various factors of social competence were revealed. Two new cohesions between living area, general self-confidence and the ability of demanding were found: even a half of students from villages received low ratings of the scale of self-confidence, when the students from cities dominated between those who are able to demand. Two in the first survey revealed cohesions of ability of expressing feelings and feeling not guilty didn’t change during the last decade. The factor of age in contrast to the first survey is related significantly to the general self-confidence.

Predictors of hospital admission for women with learning disabilities and psychiatric disorders compared with women maintained in community settings

This study examined the personal characteristics and social context of two groups of women with learning disabilities and psychiatric disorders who resided in some form of community residential facility. One group of women had been admitted to hospital in the past 12 months (N = 20) and the other had been maintained in the community without any admissions (N = 33). A prospective natural group comparison design was employed over a 12‐month period to study any differences between the groups. Data was collected from the women's key workers using a pro forma and three standardised instruments: Index of Social Competence, Aberrant Behaviour Checklist and the PAS‐ADD Checklist. The groups were matched on age and level of learning disabilities. Differences were found between the groups' behavioural and psychiatric profiles. Anti‐psychotic medication was the first line of treatment. A non‐significant trend was found on negative life experiences, and a binary logistic regression analysis confirmed that high levels of challenging behaviour and having behavioural/mental health management strategies in place predicted hospital admission. The findings of this study are discussed and improvements are explored.

Attachment-Related Predictors of College Students' Problems With Interpersonal Sensitivity and Aggression

Although previous studies have demonstrated that measures of parental as well as intimate adult attachment security have been associated in theoretically-expected directions with indices of social competence and interpersonal distress, few investigations have concurrently examined their contributions to specific types of interpersonal problems. This study conducted regression and structural equation modeling analyses to examine the independent and interactive contributions of parental and adult attachment security scores to college students' self-reported problems with interpersonal sensitivity and aggression. Results indicated that parental and adult attachment security scores were moderately intercorrelated. In addition, models positing adult attachment orientations as mediating associations between parental attachment security and both sensitivity and aggression problems were generally supported. Models testing the potential moderating influence of adult attachment orientations were not supported.

Práticas educativas maternas e indicadores do desenvolvimento social no terceiro ano de vida

The present work aimed at investigating relations between maternal child-rearing practices, externalizing behavior problems and social competence indicators of thirty-month-old children. The study involved 23 child-mother dyads. In the child's thirtieth month after birth, an observation of mother-child interaction was performed in order to evaluate maternal child-rearing practices, externalizing behavior problems and child social competence. The results support the literature about social development that relates child-rearing practices such as guidance, assertive control and positive parental involvement to social competence, and coercive and permissive practices to externalizing behavior problems. The work discusses the relevance of parental child-rearing practices for the comprehension of the social development, emphasizing the importance of child-rearing practices, such as autonomy authorization, intrusiveness and ambiguous control.

Social Skills Training with Children and Young People: Theory, Evidence and Practice.

Deficits in social skills and social competence play a significant role in the development and maintenance of many emotional and behavioural disorders of childhood and adolescence. Social skills training (SST) aims to increase the ability to perform key social behaviours that are important in achieving success in social situations. Behavioural SST methods include instructions, modelling, behaviour rehearsal, feedback and reinforcement, frequently used in association with interpersonal problem solving and social perception skills training. Effective change in social behaviour also requires interventions that reduce inhibiting and competing behaviours, such as cognitive restructuring, self- and emotional-regulation methods and contingency management. Research suggests that SST alone is unlikely to produce significant and lasting change in psychopathology or global indicators of social competence. Rather, SST has become a widely accepted component of multi-method approaches to the treatment of many emotional, behavioural and developmental disorders.

The role of aggression and social competence in children's perceptions of the child–teacher relationship

AbstractThe role of children's aggression and three indices of social competence (peer‐preferred behavior, teacher‐preferred behavior, and school adjustment) in children's perceived relationships with their teachers was assessed. Participants were 1,432 third through fifth graders (688 males, 744 females) and their teachers. The results from hierarchical regression analyses showed statistically significant interaction effects. Poor school adjustment was associated with more negatively perceived child teacher relationships for boys than for girls. In addition, the perceived child–teacher relationship among aggressive children was more favorable among those with high levels of school adjustment than among those who were poorly adjusted at school. Implications for school psychologists and teachers are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Effects of Positive and Negative Illusory Biases: Comparisons Across Social and Academic Self-Concept Domains

Groups of third-grade children who had high or low social and academic self-concepts that were either consistent with or discrepant from external indices of social and academic competence were contrasted on a variety of measures in social and academic domains using multiple assessment methods. Children whose social or academic self-concepts that exceeded external indices of social or academic competence were said to have a positive illusory bias and were rated lower by their teachers in social skills, had more problem behaviors, and had lower academic competence than children in two of the three other groups. Another group of children whose social self-concept was substantially lower than external indices of social competence were said to have a negative illusory bias, and did not differ from children having high social self-concepts that were consistent with external indices of social competence. The current findings appear to suggest that the relation between self-concept and adjustment is not best described by a simple linear relation between these variables, but may be better explained by the consistency or discrepancy between self and external appraisals.

Friendship and social competence in a sample of preschool children attending Head Start.

Relations between friendship (operationalized as reciprocated or nonreciprocated sociometric choices) and social competence were studied for children (mostly African American) attending Head Start. Initial analyses showed that children with reciprocated friends had higher social competence scores than children without reciprocated friends. Correlations suggested that the number of reciprocated friendships was associated with the social competence indicators studied here. Beyond the cost of having no reciprocated friends, having nonreciprocated friendships was not a liability. Cross-time analyses suggested differing patterns of relations for boys and girls. Having versus not having a reciprocated friend was unstable across time, because there was a trend toward participating in reciprocated friendships from 3 to 4 years of age (most older children had at least 1 reciprocated friend). For girls there was a positive relation between the number of reciprocated friendships at Time 1 and at Time 2. No benefit (in terms of social competence) was found for children making the transition from 1 classroom to the next with a friend.

The “Degree” of Instructor Education and Child Outcomes in Junior Kindergarten: A Comparison of Certificated Teachers and Early Childhood Educators

The goal of this study was to explore differences in the social and cognitive development of 4-year-old children in junior kindergarten, taught by groups of differentially educated instructors. Indices of social competence and social skills (i.e., solitary play, reticent behaviors, sociodramatic play) and cognitive skills (i.e., vocabulary, storybook knowledge, counting) were assessed for children in classrooms instructed by early childhood educators (with 2-year college degrees in early childhood education) and by teachers (who have obtained a university teaching certificate). Results from a series of MANOVAs indicated that children taught by differentially educated teachers did not differ in terms of social and cognitive skills. Results are discussed in terms of conceptual and policy implications associated with the use of differentially educated early childhood instructors.

Measuring social competence with the Wechsler Picture Arrangement and Comprehension subtests.

Authors tested the traditional assumption that the WAIS-R and WISC-R Picture Arrangement and Comprehension subtests are interpretable as measures of social competence. Although this assumption has existed for over 50 years, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this contention. Performance on Picture Arrangement and Comprehension were correlated with Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) FACTOR II: Social Incompetence and Social Skills Scale scores for 136 males and 64 females ranging from 6 to 20 years of age. Correlations between Picture Arrangement and Comprehension scaled scores and PIC measures of social deficiencies were not significant for either the WISC-R or WAIS-R. However, ipsative scatter analyses revealed that participants with relatively strong Comprehension performance were rated as experiencing fewer social problems than other participants. Interpreting Picture Arrangement and Comprehension subtests as indicators of social competence is cautioned.

The Authoritative Parenting Index: predicting health risk behaviors among children and adolescents.

Public health research demonstrates increasing interest in mobilizing parental influence to prevent health risk behaviors among children and adolescents. This research focuses on authoritative parenting, which previous studies suggest can prevent health risk behaviors among youth. To evaluate the reliability and validity of a new survey measure of authoritative parenting, data from studies of (1) substance use in a sample of 1,236 fourth- and sixth-grade students; (2) weapon carrying and interpersonal violence in a sample of 1,490 ninth- and tenth-grade students, and (3) anger, alienation, and conflict resolution in a sample of 224 seventh- and eighth-grade students were analyzed. The Authoritative Parenting Index had a factor structure consistent with a theoretical model of the construct; had acceptable reliability; showed grade, sex, and ethnic differences consistent with other studies; and identified parenting types that varied as hypothesized with multiple indicators of social competence and health risk behaviors among children and adolescents.

Contextually-relevant validation of peer play constructs with African American head start children: Penn interactive peer play scale

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the construct and concurrent validity of a modified version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), a teacher-rating instrument of interactive play behaviors of preschool children. PIPPS were collected on 523 urban African American Head Start children. The PIPPS scales were confirmed, supporting the following constructs of peer play: Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection. The 32-item PIPPS represented a significant improvement over the 36-item version. Scale validity was established using conceptually related indicators of social competence including teacher report, peer report, and direct play observation data. Children who evidenced high interactive play ratings received high social skill ratings from teachers, and were well liked by peers and engaged during play sessions. Children who were disruptive in play received ratings of low self-control and were more likely to be engaged in solitary play. Disconnection in play was associated with low acceptability by peers and lack of involvement in play sessions. Practical use of the PIPPS and further study of developmentally appropriate social competencies for African American Head Start children are discussed.

To “act wisely in human relations:” Exploring the dimensions of social competence

An individual-differences approach to social competence is presented. People generated a large number of operational indicators of social competence. The dimensions that underlie those indicators were then determined. Seven interpretable dimensions of social competence were identified, each with a distinct pattern of correlations with personality and cognitive ability variables. Major personality dimensions are closely related to social competence, whereas cognitive ability (as operationalized by academic performance indicators) is less related to social competence. A profile approach to social competence is proposed because (a) social competence is a compound trait, all of whose dimensions do not covary, and (b) some social competence dimensions may be curvilinear such that, after an ideal point has been reached, higher standing on the dimension may hinder rather than enhance socially competent performance.

Empathy and Social Relationships in Adolescents with Behavioral Disorders

This study explored the relationship between empathy (defined here as a person's emotional responsiveness to the emotional experiences of another) and social competence in adolescents with behavioral disorders. Compared on empathy and several indices of social competence were 39 adolescent males with behavioral disorders and 39 of their age-matched peers without behavioral disorders in order to examine differences and interrelations among these variables within each group. Results indicate that adolescents with behavioral disorders reported lower levels of empathy, participated in fewer extracurricular activities, had less frequent contacts with friends, and had lower quality relationships than their peers without disabilities. The two groups did not differ in self-reported number of close friends. Among adolescents without behavioral disorders, higher empathy was significantly associated with better quality relationships, whereas no correlation between these two variables was evidenced among the adolescents with behavioral disorders. Intervention implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are put forth.

The psychometric properties of the Index of Social Competence: A British replication

The Index of Social Competence (McConkey & Walsh, 1982), is an assessment checklist covering 15 adaptive behaviour domains, used in surveys of service requirements. The instrument was administered to 427 people with learning difficulties living in hospital, community residential facilities and in the family home as part of a wider investigation into local service needs within a health district in the West Midlands of England. Factor analysis of the data suggested that there were two main factors “Functional cognition” and “Self-care”. Comparison is made with McConkey and Walsh’s (1982) previous description of a three factor solution. Further analysis shows the instrument to be highly internally consistent and to discriminate between people living in hospital, in staffed community homes and in the homes of their families.

Didactic methods for enhancing children's peer relations: A quantitative review

A meta-analytic review was conducted of 79 controlled studies of children's social skills training. The overall short-term effectiveness of social skills training was seen as moderate. Multiple regression analysis was used to partition the variance in effect size. Diagnostic description of the subjects contributed heavily to the prediction; withdrawn subjects respond better than aggressive youngsters and children not diagnosed as behaviorally atypical. Modeling and coaching techniques are associated with higher effect sizes than social-cognitive procedures or multitreatment packages, but training technique did not emerge as a significant predictor of outcome in the multiple regression analysis. Outcome varied considerably as a function of variable. Effect sizes were higher for indices of social competence (observed social interaction, peer- and self-report, social-cognitive skill) than for more peripheral variables (e.g., global self-concept, academic achievement). Effectiveness at follow-up, though still substantial, was lower than posttreatment indicators. There were few studies with follow-up measurement at posttreatment intervals longer than 3 months.

Social Competence in Adolescence: Preliminary Findings from a Longitudinal Study of New Zealand 15-Year-Olds

Recently, there has been an increase of research interest in the nature of the relationship between the concept of "competence" and mental health and disorder. For a large sample of adolescents studied at ages 11 and 15 years, we developed indices of social competence at each age based on measures of social attachment and involvement in activities. There was a significant association between competence and "externalizing" disorders at both ages. Competence was related to "internalizing" disorder only at age 11. Preadolescent social competence did not predict later disorder at age 15 in the sample as a whole. However, externalizing disorder at age 15 was predicted by presence of disorder together with low social competence in preadolescence.

Successful and Disconfirmed Children in the Peer Group: Indices of Social Competence within an Evolutionary Perspective

An evolutionary approach to the study of social competence is proposed, one that focuses on its biological functions and long-term consequences and might serve to unify the diverse meanings attached t

Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles as a predictor of social competence

Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles and the relationship of these responses to social competence were investigated using the Social Problem Situation Analysis Measure. In this procedure, children respond to standard vignettes and then have their initial response negated by the examiner. The data showed that indices of problem-solving skills instandard andobstacle situations were indeed complementary. Problem solving in response to obstacles was the strongest predictor of self-concept and teachers' ratings of studients' adjustment. Expectancies in standard situations were most predictive of behavioral problem solving and social isolation. The discussion emphasized implications for theory and research into the way in which social problem solving under obstacle conditions relates to different indices of social competence.