At school entry, girls are rated by teachers as more competent on measures of social skills than boys. It is less clear if this higher rating is stable or grows over time. To address this question, multiple group curve of factors models investigated gender-specific growth trajectories across seven waves of measurement in a large, longitudinal…

Developmental theories and previous research have emphasized the significance of cooperation and self-control in middle childhood. The present study extends previous research by examining (a) the growth of cooperation and self-control as well as the relations between them in middle childhood (third to sixth grade) and (b) the extent to which…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether gender would moderate the association between teacher--child relationship and children's social skills in a sample of preschool children. Classroom teachers (N = 32) rated the quality of the teacher--child relationship (Student--Teacher Relationship Scale; STRS) and children's social skills (Social…

This study explored the relations among self-reported bully participant role behaviors (i.e., bullying, assisting, experiencing victimization, defending, and outsider behavior) and self-reported social skills (i.e., cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self-control) among boys and girls. The sample consisted of 636 middle school students (52%…

Research aim was to reveal peculiarities of the education of social skills among senior high school age students in physical education classes. We hypothesized that after the end of the educational experiment the senior high school age students will have more developed social skills in physical education classes. Participants in the study were 51…

Despite known risks associated with aberrant social skill development, there has been a relative dearth of literature on typical developmental changes in social skills over time. In this study, we examine systematic changes in social skills from kindergarten (typical age of 5-6 years) to third grade (typical age of 8-9 years), and focus on…

Background: Most research on the relation between parenting behaviors and child outcomes has not focused on cross-ethnic variation in these relations. Objective: This study examined if ethnicity moderates associations between parenting, child agency/persistence, and child academic achievement and social competence. Design: Participants included…

Understanding the social behaviors teachers believe is critical for school success and can contribute to the development of effective behavioral supports and assist teachers in better preparing students for successful school transitions across the K-12 grade span. We explored 1303 elementary, middle, and high school teachers' expectations of…

Research Findings: Children's social competence has been linked to successful transition to formal school. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of children's temperament to teachers' ratings of their social competence from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children (N = 1,364) from the National Institute of Child Health and…

This study explored elementary teachers' perceptions of the importance of social skills, as well as the stability of these perceptions over time. Importance ratings on the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) were obtained from 50 elementary teachers (Grades 1-6) across six elementary schools. Results indicated that…

Concludes that prior research show either no difference between homeschooled children and other children, or a difference favoring homeschooled children. This suggests that homeschooled children's social skills are certainly no worse than those of children attending conventional schools, and are probably better. This study finds that homeschooled…

The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) provides a multi-rater assessment of child social behaviors that influence the development of social competence and adaptive functioning. This study examined whether the items on the teacher version of the SSRS provide reasonable indicators of the three first-order social skills dimensions proposed by the…