Measures Of Social Competence Research Articles

Predicting Social Competence in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children: Effects of Prosody and the Amount of Speech Input.

Autistic individuals often face challenges perceiving and expressing emotions, potentially stemming from differences in speech prosody. Here we explore how autism diagnoses between groups, and measures of social competence within groups may be related to, first, children's speech characteristics (both prosodic features and amount of spontaneous speech), and second, to these two factors in mothers' speech to their children. Autistic (n = 21) and non-autistic (n = 18) children, aged 7-12 years, participated in a Lego-building task with their mothers, while conversational speech was recorded. Mean F0, pitch range, pitch variability, and amount of spontaneous speech were calculated for each child and their mother. The results indicated no differences in speech characteristics across autistic and non-autistic children, or across their mothers, suggesting that conversational context may have large effects on whether differences between autistic and non-autistic populations are found. However, variability in social competence within the group of non-autistic children (but not within autistic children) was predictive of children's mean F0, pitch range and pitch variability. The amount of spontaneous speech produced by mothers (but not their prosody) predicted their autistic children's social competence, which may suggest a heightened impact of scaffolding for mothers of autistic children. Together, results suggest complex interactions between context, social competence, and adaptive parenting strategies in driving prosodic differences in children's speech.

A Short-Term Longitudinal Examination of the Relation of Forms of Antipathy Relationships to Children's Loneliness, Peer Optimism, and Peer Sociability Behaviors.

Researchers have focused on children's friendship relationships more than antipathy (disliking) relationships. The present one-year longitudinal research examined the relation of different forms of antipathy nominations (Mutual, Unilateral Given, Unilateral Received) to children's social competence (self-reports of loneliness and peer optimism, classroom peer nominations for sociability behaviors) for 121 third and fourth graders (fourth and fifth graders in Year 2). From path analyses, the pattern between forms of antipathy relationships to the measures of social competence was identical for concurrent findings at Time 1 and between forms of antipathy relationships and the measures of social competence one year later. Higher numbers of Mutual Antipathies and higher numbers of Unilateral Received Antipathies were related to greater loneliness and fewer peer nominations for sociability behaviors. In addition, higher numbers of Unilateral Received Antipathies were related to less peer optimism. Interestingly, numbers of Unilateral Given Antipathies were not significantly related to any of the social competence measures at Time 1 or one year later. These findings suggest that dislike relationships, whether mutual or unilateral received, may have important negative associations for children's concurrent and later social competence.

Linking Language Skills and Social Competence in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the association between language skills and social competence in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and to assess the potential moderators of these associations. The study was reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Studies were identified according to a search strategy carried out in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases. A total of 15,069 articles were independently double screened in the title and abstract phases, with 250 articles proceeding to a full-text review. Inclusion criteria comprised (a) a sample of children with DLD between the ages of 2 and 12 years, (b) a language measure, (c) a social competence measure, and (d) an appropriate statistic. Exclusion criteria were (a) intervention studies with no baseline data, (b) language measures based on preverbal abilities, (c) samples of children with DLD and other clinical conditions, and (d) studies without useable statistics. Data were extracted from 21 studies that met the eligibility criteria for the meta-analysis. Pooled estimates across 21 studies (Mage = 7.52 years; 64% male) and 6,830 children indicated a significant association between language skills and social competence in children with DLD (r = .18, 95% confidence interval [.12, .24], p < .001), which was small in magnitude. The effect sizes were stronger in studies that assessed overall language skills than in those that specifically measured receptive or expressive language skills. Findings from this study support a subtle and reliable relationship between language and social competence in children with DLD. The implications and limitations of this study and its future directions are also discussed. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24514564.

프레네 교육과 쿠지네 소집단 자유학습 적용 방과후 프로그램 개발

The objective of this study is to develop a more specialized after-school program for lower-grade elementary school children, moving away from a talent-centered approach. Drawing on previous research using Freinet pedagogy and Cousinet's small group free learning, a total of 10 sessions were designed focusing on expression, communication, and cooperation. The program was implemented for three months at OO Elementary School in N City, Chungnam province, and then refined based on feedback. Additionally, to assess the program's effectiveness, measures of self-expression, social competence, and social behavior were administered before and after the program, and a comparative analysis was conducted. Due to the limited number of participants, qualitative analysis was conducted on the program development process and the journals of three researchers and prospective teachers who participated in the implementation. The analysis revealed that the themes of the after-school program emphasizing expression, communication, and cooperation included transitioning from presentations to expressions, teacher cooperation and communication, changes in and utilization of activity spaces, fostering and supporting self-formed small groups, and satisfaction with program execution. This after-school program, as designed, cannot serve as a standardized model, but it can be flexibly implemented based on the characteristics of the after-school institution, the implementing agents, and the target audience.

Relations between Prosociality and Psychological Maladjustment in Chinese Elementary and Secondary School Students: Mediating Roles of Peer Preference and Self-Perceived Social Competence.

Despite empirical findings that prosociality can prevent elementary and secondary school students from developing psychological maladjustment, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. The goal of the present study was to examine the mediating effects of peer preference and self-perceived social competence on the associations between prosociality and psychological maladjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms and loneliness). Participants were 951 students (Mage = 11 years, 442 girls) in Grades 3~7 from Shanghai, China. They completed peer nominations of prosociality and peer preference and self-report measures of self-perceived social competence, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that: (a) both peer preference and self-perceived social competence mediated the relations between prosociality and psychological maladjustment, and (b) a serial indirect pathway (i.e., prosociality → peer preference → self-perceived social competence → psychological maladjustment) emerged when controlling for age group and gender. These findings point to potential targets in the prevention and intervention of Chinese students' internalization of problems.

Social competence as a predictor of adult outcomes in autism spectrum disorder.

There is a wealth of literature characterizing social difficulties in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little work has replicated longitudinal findings from typical development that adolescent social competence predicts positive adult outcomes in ASD. The current study examined social competence trajectories from 2 to 26 and the utility of three social competence measures collected in adolescence in predicting work, residential status, friendship, and romantic outcomes in a longitudinal cohort (n = 253) of ASD. Using group-based trajectory modeling, we identified two patterns of social competence development: a low trajectory characterized by slow linear gains throughout childhood and plateauing in adulthood, and a high trajectory characterized by steeper linear gains in childhood followed by decline in adulthood. Regression models indicated one social competence measure, Vineland Social-AE scores, significantly predicted employment, residential status, and friendships in adulthood. One other social competence measure, SSQ total scores, also significantly predicted friendship in adulthood. Only nonverbal IQ at 9 predicted the likelihood of having ever had a romantic relationship. These findings highlight the role of social competence in both atypical and typical development and suggest the social impairments associated with ASD do not necessarily impact all realms of social functioning equally.

To be fair: Development and illustration of the Comprehensive Appraisal of Fairness Evidence (CAFE) model to advance SEL assessment practices

The use of school-based universal assessment of students’ social and emotional competencies is increasing with the popularity of SEL programs (Collaborative for the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2020). Likewise, the development of social emotional assessments has increased in technical sophistication. Yet, a fundamental aspect of their use and interpretation – fairness – has remained relatively unexamined. One potential reason for this situation is the lack of an integrative framework that provides guidance regarding the types of evidence necessary for fair assessment scores. To address this need for fairness evidence, we propose a new model - the Comprehensive Appraisal of Fairness Evidence (CAFE). This model features a unified evidence framework with three facets based upon a targeted expansion and integration of Kane’s (2010) notion of procedural and substantive fairness and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). This framework is embedded within an evaluation process that grounds consideration of fairness in specific proposed interpretations and uses. We then provide an example application of this model to illustrate it utility with a published measure of social emotional competence, the SSIS SEL Brief Scales (Elliott et al., 2020). We conclude with implications for social emotional assessment developers, educators, and administrators working to ensure fair assessment of all students.

Psychometric properties of the mock interview rating scale for schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses.

Over the past 10 years, job interview training has emerged as an area of study among adults with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses who face significant challenges when navigating job interviews. The field of mental health services research has limited access to assessments of job interview skills with rigorously evaluated psychometric properties. We sought to evaluate the initial psychometric properties of a measure assessing job interview skills via role-play performance. As part of a randomized controlled trial, 90 adults with schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses completed a job interview role-play assessment with eight items (and scored using anchors) called the mock interview rating scale (MIRS). A classical test theory analysis was conducted including confirmatory factor analyses, Rasch model analysis and calibration, and differential item functioning; along with inter-rater, internal consistency, and test-retest reliabilities. Pearson correlations were used to evaluate construct, convergent, divergent, criterion, and predictive validity by correlating the MIRS with demographic, clinical, cognitive, work history measures, and employment outcomes. Our analyses resulted in the removal of a single item (sounding honest) and yielded a unidimensional total score measurement with support for its inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. There was initial support for the construct, convergent, criterion, and predictive validities of the MIRS, as it correlated with measures of social competence, neurocognition, valuing job interview training, and employment outcomes. Meanwhile, the lack of correlations with race, physical health, and substance abuse lent support for divergent validity. This study presents initial evidence that the seven-item version of the MIRS has acceptable psychometric properties supporting its use to assess job interview skills reliably and validly among adults with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. NCT03049813.

Children's social emotional competence in Pakistan and Sweden: Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Social Competence Scale (teacher edition).

Social emotional competence is fundamental to the positive development of children and youth. Accurately understanding and assessing children's social emotional competencies, using psychometrically sound instruments, are essential to global efforts to support children's social emotional learning, academic achievements, and health. This study examined the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported measure of young children's social emotional competence, the Social Competence Scale - Teacher edition (SCS-T), in two samples of children growing up with varied economic resources/conditions, cultural norms, and educational experiences, namely Pakistan (N = 396) and Sweden (N = 309). Participants were aged 4-6 years old. The study design was cross-sectional. Using structural equation modelling, bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis models implying shared variance, among all items and domain-specific shared variance, among the prosocial items, emotion regulation items, and academic skills items resulted in good fitting models in each respective sample. Invariance testing across samples revealed a subset of items from each factor structure with partial scalar invariance, whereby five items had equal thresholds and could be comparable across the two samples. Thus, results provided partial support for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, in that the posited three factor model (H1) was not clearly supported and a bi-factor model evidenced the best fit, among tested models, for both samples. Further, partial scalar invariance (H3) was found for five items out of 25 items, concerning social competence and academic skills. In regards, to the posited research question, the results of Z-tests showed significant (p < 0.001) latent mean differences between the samples. Compared to the Swedish sample, the Pakistani sample was 1.80 units lower on social competence (z = -6.41, p < 0.001) and 1.86 units lower on academic skills (z = -7.87, p < 0.001). The implications of these findings in light of efforts to promote positive child development in diverse parts of the world are considered.

Emotion matching task: Preliminary validation in Croatian sample

ABSTRACT The changed sentence: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Emotion Matching Task (EMT) in a sample of Croatian preschool children. The Croatian version of the EMT was applied to 198 children (52% female), together with measures of verbal ability and social competence. The internal structure of the test, as well as its reliability, was confirmed. Simultaneous regression analysis showed that children with higher verbal abilities, older children, and girls had higher results on the EMT. The results of a hierarchical regression analysis related to the explanation of the variance of social competence with regard to age, sex, verbal ability, and EMT variables and showed that only the contribution of sex was significant. In conclusion, the EMT showed good reliability and adequate construct validity, while criterion validity was not confirmed. However, further research is needed using broader samples and other behavioural outcomes measures.

Self‐perceptions moderate the effect of implicit theories on preadolescent's attributions of their positive and negative social experiences

AbstractAssociations between implicit theories of personality, perceived social competence, and attributions to explain positive and negative outcomes in social tasks were examined in a study of 103 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade girls and boys. Consistent with the basic model formulated by Dweck and Leggett (1988), it was hypothesized that having an entity, rather than an incremental, perspective would vary as a function of the degree to which children had a positive view of their social competence. The results showed that an entity theory of personality was associated with emphasis on the importance of personal characteristics and task difficulty following social failure, whereas an incremental theory was associated with emphasis on the importance of task ease following social success. High scores on the positive perceived social competence measure were associated with emphasis on the importance of personal characteristics, effort and task ease following social success and the importance of personal characteristics, luck and task difficulty following social failure. Preadolescents with an entity theory of personality were less likely to make attributions of personal characteristics and task difficulty to social failure if they had a positive view of their social competence. Preadolescents with an incremental theory of personality were not likely to make these attributions about social failure regardless of whether they viewed their social competencies as positive. These findings indicate that the association between entity and incremental views and social attributions needs to be considered in conjunction with perceptions of the self. They provided support for Deck and Leggett's (1988) model.

Imaginative Children in the Classroom: Mixed-Methods Examining Teacher Reported Behavior, Play Observations and Child Assessments

ABSTRACT During imaginative play, children may learn foundational skills important for academic success. Indeed, imaginative children, high in fantasy orientation (FO), may have advantages in skills that support positive classroom and social behavior. Yet findings are mixed regarding the classroom behavior of children high in fantasy orientation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the cognitive and social skills of children who typically engage in imaginative play in comparison to their peers in classroom contexts across multiple informants: child, teacher, and classroom observers. Ninety preschoolers and their teachers completed measures of fantasy orientation (FO), self-regulation, emotion knowledge, vocabulary, and social competence. Further, observers reported on children’s classroom behaviors. Research Findings: Cluster analyses revealed children with higher scores on direct assessments of executive functioning, emotion knowledge, and vocabulary had higher FO. Additionally, children whose teachers reported them as socially competent had higher FO. Finally, children who were rated by classroom observers as high in emotive social play, peer conversation, and physical activity had higher FO. Thus, across multiple informants, children high in FO and imaginative play exhibited higher cognitive and social skills in the classroom. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that children high in FO may have benefits in skills that are related to positive academic skills in comparison to peers. Curricula should continue to examine the utility of imaginative play as a context to support cognitive and socioemotional development.

The Processes Underlying Positive Illusory Bias in ADHD: The Role of Executive Functions and Pragmatic Language Skills

Objective: Children with ADHD often show a positive illusory bias (PIB), reporting an extremely positive idea of their own competence, despite their difficulties. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still poorly understood. In the present study, we examined social PIB and investigated the role of executive functions (EFs) and pragmatic language (PL). Method: Forty-one children with ADHD and 42 typically-developing children matched on age, IQ, and receptive language were administered measures of social competence, EFs and PL. The parents were also asked to estimate their child’s social competence. Results: There was evidence of social difficulties and PIB in children with ADHD. Only PL, not EFs, seemed to mediate the association between ADHD and PIB. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that PL abilities should be considered in efforts to improve self-perception in children with ADHD.

Low School Support Exacerbates the Association between Peer Difficulties and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in Adolescents

ABSTRACT Objective: Although peer difficulties and sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) are related, studies have yet to examine environmental factors that may advance further understanding of this association. The current study tested whether peer difficulties, specifically social competence and peer victimization, interacted with school support, a component of school climate, in relation to adolescents’ SCT symptoms. Further, we explored whether these relations would be differentially associated with SCT in adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: Adolescents (N = 288; M age = 14.08, 45% female, 82.6% White; 52% with ADHD) completed measures of social competence, peer victimization, school climate support, and SCT and ADHD inattentive (IN) symptoms. Parents also reported on adolescents’ social competence, SCT, and ADHD-IN symptoms. Results: Results indicated that adolescent and parent ratings of lower social competence were both associated with higher adolescent-reported SCT symptoms in the context of low, but not high, school support. Relational and nonphysical victimization were associated with higher self-reported SCT symptoms in the context of low school support. Lower adolescent- and parent-reported social competence were also related to higher parent-reported SCT symptoms, with these associations not moderated by school support. These results remained after controlling for demographics and ADHD-IN symptoms and were similar across adolescents with and without ADHD. Conclusions: Findings from the current study are the first to provide evidence that peer difficulties and school climate are jointly related to adolescents’ self-reported SCT and underscore the importance of continued research investigating social adversity and environmental factors in relation to SCT.

The Structure of Social Skills: Divergence Between Social Competence and Social Inappropriateness

Performance-based assessments of social skills can detect differences between people with severe mental illness and correlate with clinical ratings of social outcome in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. As real-world social competence and social disruptiveness appear to have different correlates, we hypothesized that performance-based measures of social competence and social inappropriateness would be differentially correlated with each other and with other performance-based measures of neurocognition and functional capacity.

The Effectiveness of a Program Based on Psychodrama to Develop Social Competence in children with intellectual Disability

This study aimed to identify the extension of the effectiveness of a program based psychodrama in providing social competency skills for mentally handicapped children. The research consisted of (32) mentally handicapped children, whose ages range from (8 - 12) years of children from schools of rehabilitation of intellectual education boys and girls in the states of Kuwait, distributed on two groups, one experimental and the other control, by (16) children in each group. The research tools consisted of a measure of social competence and a program to develop social competence, and the semi-experimental approach was used, and the results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the average performance of the total Experimental and the control group in the post-application of the measure of social competence in favor of the experimental group. The results also showed the presence of statistically significant differences between the pre and post application of the experimental group in the social competence in favor of the post application, and the absence of statistically significant differences between the post-application and the successive social competence of the members of the experimental group.

The clinical utility of the Children’s Communication Checklist-2 in children with early childhood traumatic brain injury

Objective Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with long-term cognitive and behavioral deficits. Social communication impairments are common and impact functional outcomes, such as social engagement and academic performance. There are many barriers to identifying social communication deficits following TBI, including the absence of a standardized parent-reported communication measure for use in this population. The Children’s Communication Checklist—Second Edition (CCC-2) has demonstrated utility in identifying communication deficits in diagnoses other than TBI. This study investigated the clinical utility of the CCC-2’s social communication scales in children with TBI. Method: 203 children who sustained TBI or orthopedic injuries between the ages of 36 and 83 months were recruited as part of a larger, longitudinal study. We analyzed social communication subscale scores from the CCC-2 an average of 3.5 years postinjury. We used binary logistic regression analyses to examine the measure’s accuracy in classifying children with and without social communication deficits on other measures of pragmatic language and social competence. Correlation analyses and linear mixed models were used to examine the construct validity of the CCC-2. Results: The CCC-2 was able to accurately classify those with and without pragmatic language impairments on the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language 92% of the time (sensitivity = 55%) and 96% of the time on the Home and Community Social Behavior scale (sensitivity = 72%). The CCC-2 demonstrated strong correlations with and predictive validity for measures of social communication and competence. Conclusions: The findings offer support for the clinical utility of the CCC-2 in the pediatric TBI population.

Efficacy of group social skills interventions on social competency and participation in adolescents with acquired and developmental disabilities: a systematic review protocol.

The objective of this review is to evaluate the efficacy of group social skills interventions in improving social knowledge, social competency, and social participation in adolescents with acquired and developmental disabilities. Difficulties with social functioning and participation are commonly experienced by adolescents with a range of acquired and developmental disabilities. There is evidence for the use of group social skills interventions in youth with autism spectrum disorder, although less is known about their efficacy with youth with other disabilities. This review will include studies that evaluate group social skills interventions in adolescents with an acquired or developmental disability, excluding a primary mental health disorder. Randomized controlled trials will be the only experimental design included and group social skills interventions must have an available intervention manual to allow use in clinical practice. Primary outcomes will include measures of social knowledge, social competence, and social participation. PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, and Web of Science will be searched for eligible studies published in English. Clinical Trials Registry, Google Scholar, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses will also be searched. Screening, study selection, critical appraisal, and data extraction will be conducted by two independent reviewers using standardized tools. Studies will be pooled, where possible, with statistical meta-analysis and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Summary of Findings presented. PROSPERO CRD42020158189.

Evidence Base Update for Measures of Social Skills and Social Competence in Clinical Samples of Youth

Social skills and social competence are key transdiagnostic processes in developmental psychopathology and are the focus of an array of clinical interventions. In this Evidence Base Update, we evaluated the psychometric properties of measures of social skills and social competence used with clinical samples of children and adolescents. A systematic literature search yielded eight widely used measures of social skills and one measure of social competence. Applying the criteria identified by Youngstrom et al. (2017), we found that, with some exceptions, these measures had adequate to excellent norms, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. There was at least adequate evidence of construct validity and treatment sensitivity in clinical samples for nearly all measures assessed. Many of the scales included items assessing constructs other than social skills and competence (e.g., emotion regulation). Development of updated tools to assess youth’s effectiveness in key interpersonal situations, including those occurring online, may yield clinical dividends.

Relations between preschooler social competence and coping tactics during resource‐based conflicts

AbstractAlthough peer conflict is a common experience in preschool classrooms, few studies have examined relations between coping with peer conflict and social competence (SC) in preschool samples. In this study, 166 preschoolers (95 male) were observed during dyadic play episodes designed to induce a resource‐based conflict. Coping tactics were coded using Zimmer‐Gembeck and Skinner’s framework, and their relations with indicators of SC, assessed using direct observations and sociometric interviews, were tested. On average, dyadic play episodes produced 4.19 conflict events per partner, with children’s most common tactics being verbal and/or physical assertions (29% and 17% of all conflict events, respectively). Coping tactics showed moderate correspondence with current taxonomies, and regression analyses with SC demonstrated partial correspondence to studies of older children. Cooperative tactics reflected higher levels of SC, particularly for boys, and failure to cope with the dilemma (i.e., perseveration) reflected lower levels of SC. The use of disengaged tactics was not associated with SC, and only few differences in coping tactic use were associated with the dyad gender composition. Results suggest that coping tactics during resource‐based conflicts among preschoolers are associated with measures of SC and, with slight adjustments, map onto existing frameworks.