The current study explored the relation between sustained attention and the social skills of assertion, cooperation, self-control, and peer competence and whether sex moderated this relation. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Development – Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed. Structural equation models were used to test the possibility of sex as a moderator for each relation. Results suggest sex moderates the relation between sustained attention and assertion skills. Additionally, results suggest sex moderates the relation between sustained attention and cooperation skills. However, results suggest sex did not moderate the relation between sustained attention and self-control and also suggest sex did not moderate the relations between sustained attention and peer competence. Such relations emphasize the importance of understanding social outcomes for children who struggle with attention and should be utilized by educators, parents, and families to ensure social success for children with attention problems.

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This systematic review of the literature examined the effectiveness of the Power Card strategy to increase social skills in studies conducted with individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities. Database searches conducted identified 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria with a total of 30 participants who had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or an intellectual disability (IDD). The majority of the Power Card studies (n= 7) targeted social skills, while other targeted skills include direction following, on-task behaviors, latency to teacher cues, executive functioning, and personal space. All 12 studies were reviewed and analyzed for their intervention procedures such as the use of a scenario card, access to the Power Card after reading, if a functional behavior assessment (FBA) was completed, and how the special interest item (SIA) was chosen. Results of the review highlight the need for more research to evaluate which steps of the Power Card strategy are most effective, the need for a greater variety of target behaviors, and the need to focus on the maintenance and generalization of skills learned via the Power Card strategy. Relevant suggestions for future research and practice are discussed. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

Early identification of emotional and behavioral disorders is critical in ensuring that students receive the interventions and supports necessary for school success. While externalizing and internalizing behaviors often occur comorbidly, more research is needed to understand how different subtypes of these behaviors may manifest, especially in the early elementary school years. Further, as schools increase their emphasis on universal, evidence-based interventions as tools for preventing the development of later social-emotional and behavior challenges, it is important to understand how different groups of students respond to such interventions. In the present study, I explored the behavioral and emotional profiles of 470 second-grade students using latent profile analysis. I also examined how students transitioned between profiles over the course of one school year (i.e., fall to spring) within the context of a social-emotional intervention (Social Skills Improvement System-Classwide Intervention Program, SSIS-CIP; Elliott & Gresham, 2007). Additionally, I used multinomial logistic regression analyses to examine if child race, gender, teacher-student relationship, and treatment condition (intervention vs. control) predicted profile membership and transition over the course of a school year. I used five behavioral composites from the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales-Teacher Form (SSIS-RST; Gresham & Elliott, 2008) to create the student profiles. Three profiles of students emerged in the present study. The first profile (normative) was characterized by the lowest levels of all five externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The second profile (at-risk) demonstrated elevated levels of impulsive behaviors, conduct problems, and emotion dysregulation, with less elevated levels of bullying. The third profile (comorbid) demonstrated elevated levels of all five externalizing and internalizing behaviors. From fall to spring, students in the normative profile exhibited a 93% probability of remaining in the normative profile. Students in the at-risk profile demonstrated a similarly high likelihood of remaining in the at-risk profile over time (72%), while students in the comorbid profile experienced a 57% chance of remaining in the comorbid profile over time. Teachers’ observed emotional support, child race, child gender, and participation in the SSIS-CIP intervention were all predictors of profile movement, however, the associations varied across the different profiles. Results of the present study suggest the SSIS-CIP may function as a preventative tool for students identified within the normative group as well as an effective intervention for those students with the most severe behavioral presentations. Consistent with previous research, teachers rated males and students of color higher on measures of externalizing behaviors. Notably, while female students were less likely to be identified in the comorbid profile in the fall, they were more likely to remain in that profile over time compared to male students who were identified in the comorbid profile in the fall. Surprisingly, teacher emotional support was negatively associated with movement from the at-risk group to the normative group. Future research should continue to explore the ways in which externalizing and internalizing behaviors manifest in young children as well as the intersection between gender and race as it relates to teachers’ ratings of students’ behaviors. / School Psychology

The scope of the current study focuses on the relationship between direct and indirect methods of measuring social skills in children. Participants included 33 children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old. The sample drew from elementary schools in 2 Southern states in the U.S., as well as social skills groups from a university-based clinic. While some participants had been previously identified has having disabilities impacting social performance, it was not an inclusionary requirement and the majority of children were not identified as having a disability clinically or through a special education eligibility domain. Teachers and clinicians leading social skills groups completed indirect measures, the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children Third Edition (BASC-3) and the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) related to the participants’ social skills. Direct observations of participants were completed using the Social Observation System (SOS) by graduate level research assistants. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive value of the teacher informed indirect measures on the direct method of observation. Additionally, simple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the reverse relationship of the direct observation’s ability to predict the variance observed in each indirect measure. Results indicated that both the indirect and direct methods of social skills assessment can significantly predict the other. However, while significant, a low to moderate amount of variance in the direct measure is explained by the indirect measures of social skills. The results and implications of the finding are discussed, as well as limitations and future directions.

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Children who are socially skilled are better able to make use of the learning environment in schools and are more likely to form positive relationships with others. This is especially important during the transition to kindergarten since early experiences in school can establish self-sustaining trajectories; children who succeed socially and academically early on are more likely to continue in their success. Research suggests that aspects of the classroom environment, home environment, and children's individual characteristics are important for young children's social development. However, research so far has not examined the intersection of these three levels of influence (classroom, child, and family) on children's social skills at this critical transition to formal schooling. The present study utilized a multi-method, multi-informant, longitudinal research design to examine the ways in which preschool classroom-level factors (teacher quality, teacher beliefs and practices, and classroom climate), family-level factors (parenting style and family stress), and child-level characteristics (language ability and externalizing behaviors) predict parent and teacher ratings of the social skills of a diverse sample of kindergarteners. Developmentally appropriate teaching beliefs and practices, better language ability, and fewer externalizing behaviors each uniquely predicted better teacher-rated kindergarten social skills, controlling for all other variables. More parental warmth, less family stress, fewer externalizing behaviors, and better language ability uniquely predicted higher parent-rated social skills in kindergarten, controlling for all other variables. Classroom-level factors did not significantly moderate the relationships between family or child-level characteristics and social skill ratings. Gender and ethnic differences were found in the strength of the relationships between predictors and outcomes.

The clinical diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (APA, 2013) include difficulties with social communication and social cognition. Decades of autism research have been devoted to developing and implementing social skills training programs, some of which include drama as an instructional strategy. This dissertation project set out to contribute to that body of research, creating and testing a social skills program that used drama based on fictional stories to provide examples of social behaviour choices. The critical analysis of the research findings, using ethnographic methodology and the dual lenses of weak central coherence theory (Frith, 2003) and context-blindness theory (Vermeulen, 2012), extends the clinical, medical model of autism to create a por[trait of authentic, forthright individuals who are concerned with issues of social justice, who learn by making analogies to build context, whose conversation is associative and collaborative, and who stepped into the fictional worlds of the story-dramas and into the minds of the characters with empathy and commitment. The Story Wheel curriculum is built on Northrop Frye’s archetypal literary theory (Anatomy of Criticism, 1957) using the dramatic conventions approach of applied drama (Neelands & Goode, Structuring Drama Work, 2015) as a pedagogical strategy. Each of the four archetypes – romance, tragedy, irony, and comedy – are represented by three workshops based on Western literature, chosen to align with the culture and knowledge base of the participants, for a total of twelve drama workshops in the research project. This dissertation includes the curriculum outline, the literary choices, and recommendations for drama practitioners to create a successful and inclusive experience for their autistic participants. / Graduate

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