Thesis advisor: Jacqueline Lerner / Understanding the family and school factors that lead to Latino children's social competence in the United States is a critical issue for the school success of our expanding Latino population. Using a Latino subsample of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (N = 3,072), this study examined socioeconomic status, home language, and parental stress in relation to parenting behaviors as predictors of kindergarten children's social skills in the classroom. Spanish instruction in the classroom was investigated as a moderator of the relationship between parental stress and parenting behaviors. Using regression analyses, it was found that higher socioeconomic levels were associated with greater levels of parental warmth and structured rules and routines in the family. Spanish as home language was related to lower levels of harsher forms of discipline. Both marital stress and parenting stress were predictive of harsher forms of discipline and decreased structured rules and routines in the family. Marital stress alone was related to decreased levels of parental warmth. Parenting behaviors were predictive of kindergarten children's social skills. Harsher forms of discipline were related to decreases in children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Increased levels of family rules and routines were positively related to children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Evidence was found for the mediational role of parenting behaviors to children's social skills. Discipline mediated the relationship between marital stress and children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Discipline also mediated the relationship of parenting stress to children's interpersonal skills. Finally, structured rules and routines in the family mediated the relationship of marital stress to interpersonal skills. Support was found for Spanish instruction in the classroom as a moderator for the relationship of parenting stress to negative parenting behaviors. Spanish in the classroom was associated with higher levels of parental warmth and lower levels of harsh discipline, in spite of parenting stress. This result highlights the importance of providing Spanish language resources in our school systems to promote Latino children's social competence. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Parent-child relationships serve as the foundation for social emotional competence in young children. To support the healthy social emotional development of their children, parents may need to acquire information, resources, and skills through interventions that are based upon assessment of parent competence. This manuscript presents results from a study of parents of toddlers and the practitioners who serve them in a suburban area of the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the study was to conduct initial psychometric studies on a curriculum-based tool, the Social Emotional Assessment Measure (SEAM), focused on improving parent-child interactions for parents of toddlers. Convergent validity and utility were investigated for the SEAM Parent-Toddler Interval. Findings suggest that the SEAM Parent-Toddler Interval is an appropriate tool that can identify the strengths and needs of parents and assist in designing quality interventions that might alter developmental trajectories, leading to improved family and child outcomes.

<p>Arbetslösheten är idag ett av resultaten av den pågående lågkonjunkturen. Att vara arbetslös kan kännas psykiskt påfrestande och i längden hota delar av den sociala kompetensen. Social kompetens kan kortfattat sägas handla om förmågan att möta och kommunicera med andra människor samt anpassa sig till nya miljöer. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan tiden som arbetslös och sociala kompetens i termerna bas- självkänsla, self-efficacy och empati samt hur situationen för den arbetslöse ser ut ifråga om hjälp och stöd från arbetsförmedlingen. En enkätundersökning genomfördes där 128 arbetslösa deltog. Resultatet visade att personer som varit arbetslösa en längre tid inte hade lägre social kompetens utifrån de utvalda delarna men att vissa av delarna enskilt påverkades av tiden som arbetslös vilket tas upp för diskussion tillsammans med resultatet av arbetsförmedlingens insatser för de arbetslösa.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The present dissertation takes the multi-faceted phenomenon of deception as its point of departure. The aim is to make a case for deception as a social phenomenon, and to frame theoretically and define the skills and abilities that make deception possible. A theoretical model based on a number of ideal types is constructed. The purpose of the model is to differentiate particular aspects of deception, and the model is illustrated with examples of actions of more or less well-known impostors. The examples were collected from a variety of sources, such as autobiographies and television programs. As a first step, the legal definition of deception, i.e. fraud, and statistics on crimes of deception in Sweden are presented. Different theoretical approaches are also discussed; deception as a personality trait, and deception as communication and interaction. In order to illuminate the social dimensions, it is emphasized that deception constitutes a particular type of relationship between deceiver and deceivee. This particular form of interaction exploits elementary forms, and it is also asymmetrical in terms of the intentions of the parties involved. The concept of social competence is used to describe the skills and abilities required for successful acts of deception. It is argued that the social competence of deceivers consists of three types: strategic, normative, and dramaturgic competencies. The strategic competency involves being goal-rational and strategic, for example, the ability to predict the actions of the potential addressee. In the normative competency, norms and reference to norms are used strategically. The dramaturgic competency represents an operationalization and enactment of the two other competencies, and resembles the preparation and performance of an actor. The different contexts in which deception can occur are also discussed. A preliminary typology is presented, with the aim of demonstrating the difficulties in drawing clear lines between various types of deception. The extended approach to deception also means that it can be viewed as a part of everyday social interaction. Finally, some thoughts on deception in the light of societal changes are presented. It is argued that the increasing demands on people to promote themselves in various ways in today’s society can be perceived as an invitation to deception and fabrication. These demands can generate feelings of inferiority and a fear of eventually being unmasked as an impostor, or a phony.

Arbetslösheten är idag ett av resultaten av den pågående lågkonjunkturen. Att vara arbetslös kan kännas psykiskt påfrestande och i längden hota delar av den sociala kompetensen. Social kompetens kan kortfattat sägas handla om förmågan att möta och kommunicera med andra människor samt anpassa sig till nya miljöer. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan tiden som arbetslös och sociala kompetens i termerna bas- självkänsla, self-efficacy och empati samt hur situationen för den arbetslöse ser ut ifråga om hjälp och stöd från arbetsförmedlingen. En enkätundersökning genomfördes där 128 arbetslösa deltog. Resultatet visade att personer som varit arbetslösa en längre tid inte hade lägre social kompetens utifrån de utvalda delarna men att vissa av delarna enskilt påverkades av tiden som arbetslös vilket tas upp för diskussion tillsammans med resultatet av arbetsförmedlingens insatser för de arbetslösa.

Purpose: To examine the social competence of childhood brain tumour survivors in the context of a group social skills intervention program developed to address documented social deficits among this population and to expand outcomes obtained from a feasibility study, by: conceptualizing social competence as three separate but interrelated constructs including social adjustment, social performance, and social skills; incorporating a control group; eliciting teacher responses; and examining sense of self. Methods: Participants were 23 survivors (10 males; 13 females) aged 7 to 15 years and comprised an intervention (n=15) and control group (n=8). The intervention consisted of 8 2-hour weekly sessions focused on social skills including friendship making. At the level of social adjustment, intervention participants, controls, parents, and teachers (n=6) completed standardized measures of social adjustment including: social skills (SSRS, Gresham & Elliott, 1990); social functioning (Varni, 1999); and social problems (Achenbach, 2001). At the level of social performance, behavioural observations were conducted on intervention participants. At the level of social skills, intervention participants responded to the Social Problem-Solving Measure (SPSM; Vannatta, 1993). Survivors also completed standardized sense of self measures. Results: Outcomes related to social adjustment showed a significant increase from Time 1 to Time 2 for parent reported SSRS within and between groups. Significant improvements were also found for parent reported social problems between groups. Child reported social problems decreased within groups and a borderline effect was found between groups. Teachers reported improved SSRS scores form Time 1 to Time 2. For social performance, significant increases in frequency were found for maintaining facial attention and social conversations with peers over the course of the intervention. At the level of social skills, a borderline significant increase was found for quantity of strategies offered from Time 1 to Time 2. No significant findings were found for sense of self data. Conclusions: Improvements after intervention were noted at each level of social competence, but primarily at the level of social adjustment. Control group and teacher outcomes strengthen findings. This is the first study to explore varying levels of social competence and provides important insight into the source of survivors’ social deficits.

Purpose: To examine the social competence of childhood brain tumour survivors in the context of a group social skills intervention program developed to address documented social deficits among this population and to expand outcomes obtained from a feasibility study, by: conceptualizing social competence as three separate but interrelated constructs including social adjustment, social performance, and social skills; incorporating a control group; eliciting teacher responses; and examining sense of self. Methods: Participants were 23 survivors (10 males; 13 females) aged 7 to 15 years and comprised an intervention (n=15) and control group (n=8). The intervention consisted of 8 2-hour weekly sessions focused on social skills including friendship making. At the level of social adjustment, intervention participants, controls, parents, and teachers (n=6) completed standardized measures of social adjustment including: social skills (SSRS, Gresham & Elliott, 1990); social functioning (Varni, 1999); and social problems (Achenbach, 2001). At the level of social performance, behavioural observations were conducted on intervention participants. At the level of social skills, intervention participants responded to the Social Problem-Solving Measure (SPSM; Vannatta, 1993). Survivors also completed standardized sense of self measures. Results: Outcomes related to social adjustment showed a significant increase from Time 1 to Time 2 for parent reported SSRS within and between groups. Significant improvements were also found for parent reported social problems between groups. Child reported social problems decreased within groups and a borderline effect was found between groups. Teachers reported improved SSRS scores form Time 1 to Time 2. For social performance, significant increases in frequency were found for maintaining facial attention and social conversations with peers over the course of the intervention. At the level of social skills, a borderline significant increase was found for quantity of strategies offered from Time 1 to Time 2. No significant findings were found for sense of self data. Conclusions: Improvements after intervention were noted at each level of social competence, but primarily at the level of social adjustment. Control group and teacher outcomes strengthen findings. This is the first study to explore varying levels of social competence and provides important insight into the source of survivors’ social deficits.

For young children, a primary component of social competence is establishing effective interactions with peers during play. To inform the development of practices that promote this competency starting in early childhood, quality assessment measures are needed. These instruments must have the capacity to establish linkages between the home and school as well as utilizing multiple informants. A promising early childhood assessment measure is the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), which is a rating scale created with parent and teacher versions. Previous research has established its validity for preschoolers from among various populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the PIPPS system in a population of preschool children, by investigating: (1) the concurrent validity of parent and teacher versions of the PIPPS and a standardized assessment measure of social competence (PKBS-2 Social Skills Scale); (2) the relationship between teacher/parent ratings and child gender; (3) the relationships between the teacher and parent versions of vi the PIPPS; and (4) the predictive validity of teacher and parent ratings on the PIPPS and PKBS-2 with level of communication between the two parties. To meet inclusion criteria, teachers and parents had to have contact with preschool students ages 3-5 years enrolled in a preschool classroom for at least 4 months, and who were proficient in either English and/or Spanish. In total, across the three participating preschool centers, 50 students were found eligible to participate in this study and 32 students returned with completed packets parent rating scales (64%). Results indicated some relationship between the parent and teacher versions of the PIPPS and PKBS-2 Social Skills rating systems as well as the influence of communication level. However, there were no statistically significant findings for the influence of gender on these ratings. There were several limitations to the external validity of the results of this study. Limitations included sample bias and the use of self-report questionnaires. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

The decision to analyze the possibilities and problems of social competence in mother-tongue lessons is connected to the statement that in the lessons of above mentioned subject students should be encouraged to communicate more, understand the other, nearby person. Communication situations, variety of characters, their differences and generalities, questions analyzed in discussions, talking about polemic situations can help to do that. The aim of this thesis is to explore educational possibilities of students’ social competence in mother-tongue lessons. Today necessary condition of personal self-sufficiency is his virtuous maturity and versatile contemporary competence, new cultural, political and economic literacy. Social human competence gets special significance in present conditions. None the less important it is the purpose of education to proportion personal objectives to objectives of civil community and in this way to create the base for self-sufficient and creative national life. The education program has to be directly connected to giving value attitudes, general abilities and competences necessary for personal and social life. While looking through, improving, writing programs and standards of general education, the main attention is paid that new education program conveyed necessary value attitudes for personal and social life, gave general abilities and competences required for a present-day person. Language education, recognition and literary education are... [to full text]