Social Skills Problems Research Articles

A Case of a Four-Year-Old Boy with Hyperlexia: Some Considerations for Diagnosis and Treatment from a Psychodynamic Perspective

This article examines a case of a four-year-old boy presenting with hyperlexia who was seen in twice-a-week psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy over a nine-month period. Hyperlexia can be defined as a speech-language disorder with significant problems in language learning and social skills, often accompanied by a fascination with letters, patterns, numbers and logos, and precocious reading and writing. Treatment focused primarily on the boy’s psychological conflicts and relationships, rather than on implementing the typical language and education strategies for hyperlexia. Results of this treatment support the hypothesis that hyperlexia can be usefully conceptualized as a symptom arising from biological predisposition and severe emotional stress or trauma. General issues pertaining to the conceptualization, diagnosis and treatment of hyperlexia are also addressed.

The interpretation of emotion from facial expression for children with visual processing problems

A significant proportion of people with learning difficulties have social problems, which are often considered to be the product of school failure. However, a number of studies have suggested that these social skill problems may relate to the inability to decode subtle visual cues of body language and facial expression. The majority of studies of facial expression, however, have viewed learning disability as a unitary condition, without taking account of specific sub‐types which may have more difficulty in processing visual cues, especially for facial emotion. This study investigated children aged 8 to 12 years who were divided into three learning disability sub‐groups: 1) a visual‐perceptual sub‐type called Irlen Syndrome (n=41); 2) a group with learning disabilities, but no indications of Irlen Syndrome (n=30); and 3) a normally achieving control group (n=31). The Irlen Syndrome sub‐group had significantly lower scores for interpreting emotion from facial expression than the two other groups. The learning disabled non‐lrlen sub‐group also had significantly lower scores than the control group, but with much smaller levels of significance than those between the Irlen and control groups.

The Interpretation of Emotion from Facial Expression for Children with Visual Processing Problems

A significant proportion of people with learning difficulties have social problems, which are often considered to be the product of school failure. However, a number of studies have suggested that these social skill problems may relate to the inability to decode subtle visual cues of body language and facial expression. The majority of studies of facial expression, however, have viewed learning disability as a unitary condition, without taking account of specific sub‐types which may have more difficulty in processing visual cues, especially for facial emotion. This study investigated children aged 8 to 12 years who were divided into three learning disability sub‐groups: 1) a visual‐perceptual sub‐type called Irlen Syndrome (n=41); 2) a group with learning disabilities, but no indications of Irlen Syndrome (n=30); and 3) a normally achieving control group (n=31). The Irlen Syndrome sub‐group had significantly lower scores for interpreting emotion from facial expression than the two other groups. The learning disabled non‐lrlen sub‐group also had significantly lower scores than the control group, but with much smaller levels of significance than those between the Irlen and control groups.

Aspects of social and emotional competence in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Social and emotional competence were evaluated using self-report and behavioral measures in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and controls. Adults with ADHD viewed themselves as less socially competent but more sensitive toward violations of social norms than controls. Films depicting emotional interactions were used to assess linguistic properties of free recall and perceived emotional intensity. Although adults with ADHD used more words to describe the scenes, they used fewer emotion-related words, despite rating the emotions depicted as more intense than did controls. In contrast, no group differences for words depicting social or cognitive processes were observed. Overall, adults with ADHD appear more aware of their problems in social versus emotional skills. Findings may have implications for improving the psychosocial functioning of these adults.

Student Teachers’ Stress and Social Problem-Solving Skills

In this study we examined the relationship between stress and social problem-solving skills in student teachers. Results did not show any significant increase in social problem skills at the end of student teaching in 117 primary education student teachers at Laval University in Quebec City. Similarly, stress did not significantly increase. Our results suggest that the more student teachers increase their social problem-solving skills over the course of their student-teaching experience, the less their stress increases. The training of certain social problem-solving skills (problem orientation, generation of alternative solutions, cognition and emotion strategies) could be a promising method for reducing student teachers’ stress. The more we teach student teachers to manage their emotional stress and relax after school or work (relaxation potential), the more they will succeed in reducing their anxiety and overcoming depression.

Understanding the Hidden Curriculum

Children and youth with Asperger Syndrome (AS) manifest social skills problems that can negatively impact their functioning across school, home, and community. One social skills area, the "hidden curriculum," is particularly problematic for these individuals. The hidden curriculum includes the skills that we are not taught directly yet are assumed to know. This article discusses the hidden curriculum and its impact on social functioning. In addition, practical suggestions for helping children and youth with AS learn the hidden curriculum are provided.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a Social Disability: Characteristics and Suggested Methods of Treatment

The purpose of this paper was to examine and present attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a social disability. The overall outcomes from the literature indicate how children with ADHD and social disability display similar behavior patterns (e.g., conduct disorders, attention problems, and difficulties in family functioning). Other difficulties found with ADHD children were low self-esteem, bad reputations among peers, conflicts in friendships, problems in social skills, and difficulty in overcoming self-centeredness in social skills. Early identification of social disability, however, may result in provision of preventative services, such as suggested parent and mentor methods, and maximization of the chances for positive experiences in school, extracurricular activities, and the neighborhood. These services are recommended, and success depends on effort and consistent implementation of procedures.

Problem social behavior in the workplace: an analysis of social behavior problems in a supported employment setting

The social skills problems that may influence the work-related success of supported employees has been only infrequently documented in the research literature. Though a multitude of research describes the performance-related challenges faced by supported employees, few papers address the interpersonal difficulties encountered by supported employees in the workplace. The present paper uses job trainer or “coaches” logs and two promising rating scales (the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults [PIMRA and PIMRA-S]) to describe the social problems encountered by some supported employees. Job coach’s logs indicated that approximately 58% of supported employees had experienced one or more incidents of interpersonal difficulty during their employment tenure and that 40% of the problems experienced by these individuals could be described as sexuality-related. Overall, about 25% of all supported employees had reported incidents of conflict with employees or customers that seemed sexuality-related. In addition, social and developmental factors that might contribute to the interpersonal problems found in the present research are discussed.

Communication Strategies for Increasing the Integration of Persons in Supported Employment

Integration of workers with severe disabilities is a critical outcome of supported employment. However, in practice, integration has been difficult to achieve. Few intervention strategies have been empirically validated. This paper reviews data-based communication research designed to increase the social interactions of workers with disabilities in supported employment settings. The literature is divided into three areas for review (social skills instruction, problem solving, and nonverbal communication strategies). Nineteen articles are reviewed. Specific communication interventions for increasing integration are analyzed and evaluated with suggestions for best practice of instructional techniques. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

A comparison of nonreferred, learning-disabled, and mildly mentally retarded students utilizing the social skills rating system

The assessment of social skills deficits has received wide support. Recently, the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) has been developed to assist professionals in assessing social skills. In this study, the Social Skills Rating System was used to compare students who had already been classified as learning disabled (n = 20) and mildly mentally retarded (n = 20) with a group of nonreferred students (n = 20). The results showed that as a group students with disabilities scored significantly lower than the nonreferred group on social skills and significantly higher in problem behaviors. A discriminant analysis revealed that the SSRS was able to predict group membership broadly (e.g., handicapped versus nonhandicapped) but not specifically (e.g., learning disabled, mentally retarded). Moderate Pearson correlations between parents and teacher ratings indicated some consistencies between raters. However, low kappa coefficients showed that parents and teachers are likely to identify different students as having social skills deficits and problem behaviors. Suggestions are given for utilizing the SSRS with other techniques such as interviews and observations in the assessment and remediation of social skills problems.

School/Nonschool Friendship Patterns in Early Adolescence

This research examined the school/non school ecology of early adolescent friendship activity using data from a sample of 292 junior high school students. Principal components analyses of friendship measures revealed distinct dimensions for activities that occur during and outside school with the best school friend Social skill and environment related obstacles to seeing school friends outside school were also identified. Additional analyses indicated that activity with the best school friend was more frequent during rather than outside school and that environmental obstacles interfered to a greater extent with seeing school friends outside school than did social skill problems. Activity with the best school friend during and outside school was related to self-esteem among boys but not among girls. The discussion addresses the ecological context of early adolescent friendships and promising directions for future research.

Interpersonal Disabilities: Social Skill Deficits in Older Children and Adolescents: Their Description, Assessment, and Management

Good social skills are critical for peer acceptance and friendship formation, which are developmental missions for the older child and adolescent. Good social skills can be developed and can favorably influence other domains of function. A sensitive and comprehensive assessment and management plan is essential. Pediatricians have a unique vantage point because of their familiarity with a child, the family, the school and community, and their knowledge of child development and behavior. Pediatricians can therefore play a central role in the assessment, management, and follow-up of social skills problems.

The effects of feedback on the behavior of depressed inpatients in two structured interactions.

This study examined the responsivity of depressives' behavior to contingent social feedback within the framework of Coyne's and Lewinsohn's models of depression. Subjects included 10 depressed inpatients, 8 nondepressed psychiatric inpatients, and 10 nondepressed individuals. Each subject participated in two structured interactions with an experimenter in baseline phases and phases in which ongoing contingent feedback was provided by a pair of observers. The results revealed that the behavior of all three subject groups was responsive to the feedback in both interactions. The results are consistent with past research demonstrating social skills problems among depressed individuals but do not support the notion of a social skill deficit in depression. The results are consistent with Coyne's model of depression and suggest that the problematic social behavior often associated with depression may be modifiable by immediate veridical feedback from others.

Social Skills Assessment and Intervention with Children and Adolescents

Children who persistently exhibit social skills deficits experience both short and long-term negative consequences, and these negative consequences may often be precursors of more severe problems later in life. If untreated, researchers have indicated that social skills deficits in early childhood are relatively stable over time, related to poor academic performance and may be predictive of social adjustment problems and serious psychopathology in adolescence. Procedures for linking assessment and classification of social skills problems to treatments are briefly reviewed. A number of procedures have been identified as effective methods for treating social skills deficits. The myriad of procedures can be classified into three categories: (1) operant conditioning, (2) social learning, and (3) cognitive-behavioral procedures. In practice, behavioral rehearsal is often incorporated into treatments and most of the effective social skills interventions are combined procedures rather than a single technique. Guidelines for implementing major treatment components are discussed and an overall implementation plan is presented.

Effectiveness of matched, mismatched, and package treatments of depression

The three purposes of this study were: (a) to determine if treatment that is matched to a depressed subject's problematic behavioral response class (irrational cognitions, social skills problems, few pleasant events) is more effective in alleviating depression than is mismatched treatment; (b) to determine of a package treatment is as effective as or more effective than a matched treatment and more effective than a mismatched treatment in alleviating depression; and (c) to determine if a specific treatment produces more changes in its logically-related response class than in logically-unrelated response classes. Nine depressed women were assigned to one of three multiple baseline designs across subjects; subjects in each design received, respectively, matched, mismatched, or a package treatment. Results strengthened two hypotheses, that matched treatment and package treatment are both effective in alleviating depression. Specific treatments did not, however, differentially affect their logically-related response classes.

Assessing and treating social skills deficits: A case study for the scientist-practitioner

The goals of this article were to examine various empirically proven assessment and intervention methods that can be used to remediate social skills problems and to illustrate the utilization of these methods in a case study. The case study concerned a withdrawn elementary child, her teacher, and her parents in a joint consultative intervention designed to increase her interactions with peers illustrated in the course of assessment and treatment. Combining the manipulation of antecedent/consequent events with modeling or coaching procedures constituted an effective multimethod approach to providing psychological services.

Social skills deficits and self-evaluation among depressed and nondepressed psychiatric inpatients.

Depressed psychiatric inpatients, nondepressed psychiatric inpatients, and nonpsychiatric controls role-played responses to 28 standardized interpersonal situations. Judges blindly rated these responses on overall social skill and component measures, and subjects rated their own social skills. Judges rated depressed and nondepressed psychiatric patients as having significant problems in social skills compared to normals. No differences were found between the two patient groups in judges' ratings of social skill. Depressed patients rated their own recent interpersonal behavior and optimal social skills significantly lower than did subjects in the other groups. Results suggest that social skills deficits are not specific to depression and that depressives and other psychiatric groups may differ primarily in their self-appraisals of social competence.

Peer validation and idiographic analysis of social skill deficits

An assessment methodology was developed which utilizes peer judgments to identify specific problematic conversational behaviors among individual subjects. Forty-two subjects, both males and females, who reported high social avoidance and distress, each interacted with three different randomly assigned peers of the opposite sex in dyadic social conversations. The 126 peers suggested specific changes in their partner's conversational behavior using behavioral rating scales and an open-ended format. Each of the nine conversational behaviors which previously had the most social skill research support was rated by peers to be more important for change than a group of comparison behaviors which had no previous research support. In addition, peers reliably evaluated the changes that they would recommend on six of the nine behavioural scales. An analysis of these six measures indicated that peers recommended different changes for different individuals. Three conceptually important subject groups were identified: those with general difficulties across the set of behavior (11.9%), those with specific differential difficulties (28.6%), and those with no reliably indicated overt social skill problems (59.5%). Thus, this research generally corroborates the importance of many of the behaviors which have been targeted in social skills programs, although individualized assessment and treatment of social inadequacy seem warranted.

Peer relations in children with hyperactivity/attention deficit disorder.

The first two of this year's Topical Reviews provided a primarily educational perspective on the social skills problems of learning disabled children. As a compliment to that perspective, this month's Topical Review, written by two clinical psychologists, discusses the identification and treatment of social/behavioral problems in hyperactive children. As is well known, hyperactive and learning disabled children have many difficulties in common, and disturbed social/peer relationships appear to be one of them. The present review discusses the potential causes of disturbed peer relationships in these children, as well as evaluating the relative effectiveness of behavioral, pharmacological, and educational treatments for them. What is known and what needs to be known regarding the peer relationships of hyperactive children is reviewed. Hyperactive children, particularly those who are also aggressive, have serious disturbances in peer relations. Although several treatments have been investigated, no sufficient intervention has yet been discovered. Suggestions are offered for future studies of the nature, treatment, and predictive importance of these children's problems in peer relations.

Importance of treating individually assessed response classes in the amelioration of depression

This study compared the effectiveness in ameliorating depression of treatments that were directly related to or unrelated to initial assessment findings. Nine depressed women served as subjects, three with problems in social skills, three with problems with irrational cognitions, and three with both types of problems. All subjects received four sessions of social skills training and four sessions of cognitive therapy in an alternating treatments design, combined with a multiple baseline design. Depressed subjects with assessed problems in social skills significantly improved more in both social skills and depression after receiving the related treatment of social skills training as compared to the unrelated treatment of cognitive therapy. Depressed subjects with assessed problems in irrational cognitions significantly improved more in both cognitions and depression after receiving the related treatment of cognitive therapy as compared to the unrelated treatment of social skills training. Depressed subjects with problems in both cognitions and social skills showed equivalent improvements in depression with the two types of treatment; but social skills training produced greater improvement in their social skills, and cognitive therapy produced a larger decrement in their irrational cognitions. Thus, treatment effectiveness was greatly enhanced, depending on whether treatment was related or unrelated to the initial assessment findings.