Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-6mz5d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-18T03:57:17.497Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An integrative approach to the study of social competence in adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Lisa A. Lenhart  and
David L. Rabiner
Lisa A. Lenhart*
Affiliation:
Duke University Medical Center
David L. Rabiner
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
*
Lisa Lenhart, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center, Box 2917, Durham, NC 27710
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Few studies have examined social competence in adolescents utilizing multiple sources of data, or have examined the role of the internal representation of others in terms of social problem-solving skills and social competence. The purpose of this study was to examine how constructs within social-cognitive (i.e., the problem-solving skill involving perspective integration) and object relations theory (i.e., internal representation of others) are related to adolescents' social adjustment assessed via self-report, teacher ratings, and behavioral observations. Results indicated that adolescents (N = 56) with more advanced problem-solving skills reported fewer behavioral/emotional problems, were rated as less aggressive by teachers, and were rated as more competent in behavioral interactions. Furthermore, adolescents' problem-solving skills appeared to mediate the relationship between the representation of others and behavioral ratings of competence. These results suggest that a broader understanding of social competence in adolescence can be attained by including information on the internal representation of others, which is consistent with the approach that involves integrating concepts from different theoretical viewpoints (i.e., social cognitive and object relations).

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , Summer 1995 , pp. 543 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1987). Manual for the Youth Self-Report and Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Asarnow, J. R., & Callan, J. W. (1985). Boys with peer adjustment problems: Social cognitive processes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 80–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beardslee, W. R., Schultz, L. H., & Selman, R. L. (1987). Level of social-cognitive development, adaptive functioning, and DSM-III diagnoses in adolescent offspring of parents with affective disorders: Implications of the development of the capacity for mutuality. Development Psychology, 23, 807–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blatt, S. J., Chevron, E. C., Quinlan, D. M., & Wein, S. (1981). The assessment of qualitative and structural dimensions of object representations. Unpublished manual, Yale University.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social-information processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crick, N. R., & Ladd, G. W. (1990). Children's perceptions of the outcomes of aggressive strategies: Do the ends justify being mean? Developmental Psychology, 29, 244–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A. (1980). Social cognition and children's aggressive behavior. Child Development, 51, 162–170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., & Feldman, E. (1990). Issues in social cognition and sociometric status. In Asher, S. R. & Coie, J. D. (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood (pp. 119–155). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A., & Newman, J. P. (1981). Biased decision making processes in aggressive boys. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 375–379.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., McClaskey, C. L., & Brown, M. M. (1986). Social competence in children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, E., & Dodge, K. A. (1987). Social information processing and sociometric status: Sex, age, and situational effects. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 211–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freedman, B. J., Rosenthal, L., Donahoe, C. P., Schlundt, D. G., & McFall, R. M. (1978). A social behavioral analysis of skill deficits in delinquent and non-delinquent boys. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 1448–1462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
French, D. C., Brownell, C. A., Graziano, W. G., & Hartup, W. W. (1977). Effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic sets on performance in children's groups. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 24, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaffney, L. R., & McFall, R. M. (1981). A comparison of social skills in delinquent and nondelinquent adolescent girls using a behavioral role-playing inventory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 959–967.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldfried, M. R., & D'Zurilla, D. M. (1969). Role of assessment in behavior modification. Psychology Reports, 23, 75–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouze, K. R. (1987). Attention and social problem solving as correlates of aggression in preschool males. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 181–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenberg, J. R., & Mitchell, A. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, C. H., Ladd, G. W., & Burleson, B. (1990). Children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies: Relations with sociometric status and maternal disciplinary styles. Child Development, 61, 127–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennedy, M. G., Felner, R. D., Cauce, A., & Primavera, J. (1988). Social problem solving and adjustment in adolescence: The influence of moral reasoning level, scoring alternatives, and family climate. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 17, 73–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lochman, J. E., Lampron, L. B., & Rabiner, D. L. (1989). Format differences and salience effects in the social problem-solving assessment of aggressive and non-aggressive boys. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 230–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lochman, J. E., Wayland, K. K., & White, K. J. (1993). Social Goals: Relationship to adolescent adjustment and social problem solving. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 135–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matthys, W., Walterbos, W., Njio, L., & van Engeland, H. (1989). Person perception in children with conduct disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 439–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, D. G., Perry, L. C., & Rasmussen, P. (1986). Cognitive social learning mediators of aggression. Child Development, 57, 700–711.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Platt, J. J., Spivack, G., Altman, N., & Peizar, S. B. (1974). Adolescent problem solving thinking. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 787–793.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rabiner, D. L., & Gordon, L. V. (1992). The relationship between children's social concerns and their social interaction strategies: Differences between rejected and accepted boys. Development, 2, 83–95.Google Scholar
Rabiner, D. L., Lenhart, L., & Lochman, J. E. (1990). Automatic vs. reflective problem solving in relation to children's sociometric status. Developmental Psychology, 71, 535–543.Google Scholar
Schultz, L. H., & Selman, R. L. (1989). Bridging the gap between interpersonal thought and action in early adolescence: The role of psychodynamic processes. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 133–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selman, R. L., Beardslee, W., Hickey-Schultz, L., Krupa, M., & Podorefsky, D. (1986). Assessing adolescent interpersonal negotiation strategies: Toward the integration of structural and functional models. Developmental Psychology, 22, 450–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terry, R., Coie, J. E., & Underwood, M. (1989). Teacher Rating Instrument for Assessing Children's Social Behavior. Unpublished manual, Duke University.Google Scholar
Waters, E., & Sroufe, L. A. (1983). Social competence as a developmental construct. Developmental Review, 3, 79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wentzel, K. R., & Erdley, C. A. (1993). Strategies for making friends: Relations to social behavior and peer acceptance in early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 29, 819–826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westen, D. (1988). Transference and information processing. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 161–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westen, D. (1991). Social cognition and object relations. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 429–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar