Social Information Processing Measures Research Articles

Social competence and conduct problems in young children: issues in assessment

Examined the differences in various facets of social competence in 2 groups of young children (ages 4-7 years)-a clinic-referred group of aggressive children (N = 60) diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder or conduct problem and a matched comparison group of typically developing children (N = 60). Four aspects of social competence were assessed: social information processing, actual observations of conflict management skills and social play interactions during peer interactions, positive social interactions with mothers and fathers at home, and teacher reports of social competence. The social information processing assessed included problem-solving skills (hypothetical skills as demonstrated on a social problem-solving test), self-perceptions (child's awareness of his or her own social self and feelings of loneliness), perceptions of others (attributions), and perceptions of others' attitudes toward oneself: To determine the construct validity of various means of assessing child social competence, we correlated children's social information processing measures with parent and teacher reports of social adjustment and with actual observations of interactions during peer play and at home with parents. Results comparing the 2 groups suggest that young children with conduct problems have deficits in their social information processing awareness or interpretation of social cues-they overestimate their own social competence and misattribute hostile intent to others. Tests of cognitive problem solving and observations of peer play interactions indicated that the children with conduct problems had significantly fewer positive problem-solving strategies and positive social skills, more negative conflict management strategies, and delayed play skills with peers than the comparison children. Correlation analyses indicated significant correlations between children's negative attributions and the ratio of positive to negative problem-solving strategies with observations of peer play interactions.

Aggression in boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: methylphenidate effects on naturalistically observed aggression, response to provocation, and social information processing.

High and low-aggressive boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were compared and the effects of methylphenidate were examined on measures from three domains of aggression: (1) directly observed verbal and nonverbal aggressive behaviors exhibited in the context of a day treatment program, (2) aggressive responding when provoked during a laboratory task, and (3) social information processing patterns exhibited on tasks designed to tap the putative cognitive components of aggression. The high-aggressive (HA) and low-aggressive (LA) subgroups differed significantly on observational measures of aggression and on the laboratory provocation task, but the HA group showed more deviant cognitions on only one of the numerous measures of social information processing. Regarding medication effects on the direct observation measures, methylphenidate decreased aggression for both subgroups. On the laboratory provocation task, methylphenidate had only minimal effects. Significant drug effects were obtained on only two recall social information processing measures.