A multidimensional study was conducted with learning disabled students to assess the effects of a social skills training program. Included were measures of self-concept, peer acceptance, and social competency as rated by parents and teachers. Forty-six intermediate grade children were evaluated prior to the program and after 13 weeks of either treatment, or no treatment. In addition, evaluation of the effect of different instructors was carried out. It was hypothesized that subjects would demonstrate significant (alpha=.05) increases in positive self-concept, peer acceptance, and ratings of social competency by parents and teachers. Support for this hypothesis was found for parent ratings. A secondary hypothesis was that there would be no significant difference at the .05 level between subjects receiving treatment or the placebo from Instructor A and those receiving treatment or the placebo from Instructor B. Partial confirmation was found on the parent and teacher ratings of social competency. The hypothesis was rejected for peer ratings and self-concept measures. Suggestions for practices in education include: (a) the expanding of social skills training throughout the elementary school by presenting it as a progressive skill building program, (b) ways to interest educators in teaching social behavior, (c) application of social skills assessment and training as a function of the counsellor or school psychologist's role, and (d) the practical logistics of setting up a social skills training program in an educational setting. Implications for future research suggest: (a) ways to refine the present study's design, (b) an examination of social behavior and peer acceptance in both the regular and special education class environments, and (c) the need for further understanding of the developmental stages in social competency. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Social skills training is a need among autistic adolescents. This investigation examined a social skills training program involving several teaching strategies. Specific social skills were targeted for improvement. Attempts to decrease negative social behaviors were made. Five autistic adolescents participated in the program and five were selected for the no-treatment group. Two measures were used. A survey addressing the skills targeted in the program was completed by parents and teachers before and after the program. A test conversation with a stranger and a peer was conducted with each subject before and after the program. Anecdotal information was obtained from therapists, teachers, and parents. Results provided information on the effectiveness of this social skills program. The benefits and limitations of the program were discussed.

A number of studies have investigated the factors that lead to peer acceptance in children. Particularly, the problem-solving skills of accepted and unaccepted children have been examined, with differences being substantiated. The present study investigated the possibility that problem-solving skill differences may be attributed to varying self-efficacy levels in children. Further, the communication styles of parents of high vs. low self-efficacy children were examined by observing parent/child interactions in a problem-solving situation. The results indicated that children did not differ in their ability to identify effective solutions to problems; rather, they did differ in their perceived ability to engage in effective solutions, with high self-efficacy children choosing more appropriate solutions as those that they would actually enact. Low self-efficacy children, on the other hand, chose less appropriate solutions as those that they would engage in. Finally, it was discovered that parents of high self-efficacy children utilized more positive types of messages (praise and modeling) than did those parents of low self-efficacy children. Low self-efficacy children had parents who utilized more controlling and negative types of communication styles. This study supports the motion that parents may be a significant contributing factor in the development of their child’s self-efficacy, which in turn affects the social problem-solving skills of children.

The purpose of the project was to develop a curriculum guide that would allow teachers to effectively and efficiently utilize a school garden to teach the required standards while promoting peace among the students. To develop this a thorough review of literature in the following areas was used: school gardening, peace curriculum, and curriculum design.

Thesis (M Social Work)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The emotional development of a preschool child is of great importance, since it serves as a basis for later emotional development. South African policy and legislation emphasizes the protection of preschool children and the provision of programmes that support the development of preschool children. Mothers are often the caregivers of preschool children and need to facilitate the emotional development of their preschool child. Therefore a study that examines mothers’ knowledge of the facilitation of preschool emotional development was conducted. An exploratory and descriptive study was conducted with 30 mothers that served as the primary caregiver of a preschool child or children. A semi-structured interview was conducted with each mother where quantitative as well as qualitative questions were asked. These questions were based on basic preschool emotional development in order to study mothers’ knowledge, perception and needs regarding preschool basic emotional development. Mothers’ knowledge of the Child Care Act 38 of 2005 was also researched. In this study mothers had good knowledge of basic preschool emotional development, but regardless of this knowledge, most mothers still had a need to learn more about preschool emotional development. Since only basic preschool emotional development was assessed, a study that investigates secondary emotional development needs to be conducted in order to create programmes that enhance knowledge of preschool emotional development. Regardless of mothers’ good knowledge of basic preschool emotional development, knowledge of the Child Care Act 38 of 2005 was poor. The Child Care Act 38 of 2005 is a national legal document that is applicable to all mothers and therefore it is important that mothers have knowledge regarding the content of this document. In this study mothers also indicated a need to learn more about the Child Care Act 38 of 2005, therefore the improvement of knowledge of the Child Care Act 38 of 2005 is a recommendation for service delivery for social workers at welfare organisations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die emosionele ontwikkeling van ‘n voorskoolse kind is belangrik omdat dit dien as ‘n basis vir latere emosionele ontwikkeling. Suid-Afrikaanse beleid en wetgewing beklemtoon ook die beskerming van voorskoolse kinders en die voorsiening van programme wat ontwikkeling in hierdie ouderdomsgroep fasiliteer wat op die belangrikheid hiervan dui. Moeders is dikwels die versorgers wat emosionele ontwikkeling van voorskoolse kinders fasiliteer. Daarom is ‘n studie na die kennis wat moeders oor beskik om hierdie ontwikkeling te fasiliteer uitgevoer om areas vir vermeerdering van kennis te kan identifiseer. ‘n Verkennende en beskrywende studie is met 30 moeders wat die primêre versorgers van hul voorskoolse kinders is, onderneem. ‘n Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoud is met elke moeder gevoer, waarin kwantitatiewe sowel as kwalitatiewe vrae gevra is oor basiese voorskoolse emosionele ontwikkeling om moeders se kennis, persepsies en behoefte aan kennis te ondersoek. Moeders se kennis van die Suid-Afrikaanse Kinderwet 38 van 2005 is ook ondersoek. Daar is bevind dat moeders oor goeie kennis beskik rakende die basiese emosionele ontwikkeling van ‘n voorskoolse kind. Alhoewel kennis van basiese emosionele ontwikkeling goed was, het meeste moeders meegedeel dat hulle oor ‘n behoefte aan verdere kennis beskik. Deurdat slegs basiese emosionele ontwikkeling ondersoek is, moet verdere studies onderneem word om sekondêre ontwikkeling te ondersoek en daarvolgens moet programme saamgestel word om areas waar kennis onderbreek, aan te vul. Ten spyte daarvan dat moeders se kennis van basiese voorskoolse emosionele ontwikkeling in hierdie studie goed was, was kennis van die Kinderwet 38 van 2005 min. Die Kinderwet 38 van 2005 word nasionaal toegepas op moeders met kinders en daarom is dit belangrik dat moeders van hierdie Wet kennis dra. In hierdie studie is‘n behoefte aan hierdie kennis rakende die Kinderwet 38 van 2005 aangedui en is die verbetering van kennis ten opsigte van die Kinderwet 38 van 2005 as ‘n aanbeveling vir dienslewering deur maatskaplike werkers by gesinsorgorganisasies gemaak.

Researchers have noted that by providing formal and informal social skills training (SST), the school can become a potential optimal setting that fosters the development of social competence in students with behavioral problems. Indeed, learning to get along with people is one of the most important skills that we can teach students. In order to maximize its effectiveness, SST must be motivating and personally relevant enough for students to want to use the skills. In addition, it must provide opportunities for learned skills to be practiced under varying conditions and in as close to natural situations as possible in order to enhance the transfer of training. The purpose of the study was to investigate the social competence of students aged from six to twelve, diagnosed with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) in a public self-contained school setting, and to increase the students' social competence by using a literature-based method that employs multiage grouping, impersonation, and telecommunications. By providing intensive, literature-based training in a multiage classroom, the SST gave students opportunities to practice skills in a natural, real-life environment and, therefore, increased the likelihood of generalizing these skills in other settings. The employment of impersonation and telecommunications also enhanced students' acquisition of social skills and their interests to learn.

The quality of children's daily experiences in preschool classrooms is predictive of their school readiness and later achievement (Duncan et al., 2007; La Paro & Pianta, 2000). One particularly important aspect of these experiences is the quality of emotional support provided by teachers and peers in the classroom (Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Howes et al., 2008; Mashburn, 2008; National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning, 2012). Traditionally, emotional support quality has been calculated as the average of ratings taken across the school year and is meant to represent children's average daily experience, without regard to any variability which exists within the ratings over time. The bioecological model of development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998; 2006) points out the necessity of considering in what ways learning experiences occur over time when drawing links between children's daily lives and later outcomes. In addition, attachment theory (Bowlby, 1973; Ainsworth, 1979) highlights the foundational nature of caregivers' consistency of emotional responses over time in helping young children develop skills and competencies. This study continues a line of research focused on investigating the stability of high-quality interactions as a possible mechanism through which children's optimal cognitive and social-emotional development occurs in preschool classrooms (Curby, Brock, & Hamre, 2013; Curby et al., 2011; Zinsser, Bailey, Curby, Denham, & Bassett, 2013). The current study examined the role of children's socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors, teachers' mean emotional support, and teachers' emotional support consistency in predicting children's cognitive and social-emotional development in preschool. Children's socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors (socioeconomic status, gender, age, race, ethnicity, English Language Learner status, and self-regulation) negatively predicted both baseline scores and development over the course of the year on the cognitive measures (early math and language and literacy). Low levels of teacher-rated student self-regulation at the beginning of the year significantly negatively predicted baseline scores and development on all academic and social-emotional measures. Contrary to most previous research, teachers' mean emotional support was not found to be a significant contributor to children's development when considered with child risk factors, except in the case of receptive vocabulary. The consistency of teachers' emotional support, however, was predictive of several measures of children's development of academic skills when controlling for child risk factors. A significant interaction between English Language Learner status and emotional support consistency was found in predicting development of expressive vocabulary skills. Multilevel models combining child characteristics, mean emotional support, and emotional support consistency suggest that child risk factors and emotional support consistency predict language and literacy development, above and beyond mean emotional support. Follow-up analyses also suggest that, under conditions of relatively high emotional support, consistency is especially important in predicting children's development of cognitive and social-emotional skills.

Children and young people with ADHD often experience social difficulties, which are associated with poor psychological, behavioural, and academic outcomes. As yet, underlying mechanisms of poor social functioning are unknown. The social functioning of fifty-two children (M = 14.13 years) who had been diagnosed with ADHD four years previously and their matched controls were assessed using several measures: the ratings of parents/guardians and teachers, and children's self-reports; a conversation task; the Otago Social Dilemma Test. Analyses were conducted for the whole sample plus a Socially-Impaired subgroup (clinically significant social problems), and a Persistent-ADHD subgroup (continued to meet DSM-IV ADHD criteria). First we compared the social functioning of children in the ADHD group with that of children in the control group by analysing the questionnaire responses of parents/guardians, teachers, and children's self-reports. Children in the ADHD group and Socially-Impaired sub-group were rated as experiencing more social problems and having fewer social skills than control children, across all informants. Children also estimated their own popularity, and despite experiencing social difficulties, no differences in children's popularity ratings were observed between children in the ADHD group and control group. Given that children in the ADHD group showed social difficulties, we investigated whether these deficits were driven by children's conversation skills. Children engaged in a 15-minute conversation with an adult confederate. The frequency of conversation skills were coded and analysed. Across all groups, ADHD children asked more questions, were less likely to offer extended information in response to a question, and were more likely to make at least one unco-operative statement. The number of extended verbal responses accounted for a significant amount of the variance in participants' social skills. Overall, however, the conversations of children with and without ADHD were remarkably similar. It appears, therefore, that it may be language style that influences social difficulties. Next we investigated a second mechanism that might account for social difficulties observed in children with ADHD; social problem solving skills. Children completed the Otago Social Dilemma Test, which involved viewing vignettes of social dilemmas and generating possible solutions to these problems. Children in the ADHD group provided poorer descriptions and showed less understanding of the problems portrayed. Although the ADHD participants were able to generate a similar number of solutions to the social problems as the children in the Control group, they made poorer decisions about what was the 'best solution'. ADHD participants' choice for best solution significantly added to a model of their social problems, even after IQ and severity of inattentive symptoms had been added. Taken together, the present study supports research showing that children with ADHD experience social difficulties, but they may lack insight into the effect of their behaviour on their status among peers. Children's conversation and their problem solving abilities may be factors influencing poor social functioning. Interventions that focus on teaching children to recognise social cues and generate appropriate solutions to social dilemmas may be beneficial.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-120). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.