Clark McKown

Social-Emotional Learning Skill, Self-Regulation, and Social Competence in Typically Developing and Clinic-Referred Children

Social-emotional learning (SEL) skill includes the ability to encode, interpret, and reason about social and emotional information. In two related studies, we examined the relationship between childrens SEL skill, their ability to regulate their own behavior, and the competence of their social interactions. Study 1 included 158 typically developing children ages 4 to 14 years. Study 2 included 126 clinic-referred children ages 5 to 17 years. Findings from both studies supported the conclusion that SEL skill includes three broad factors: awareness of nonverbal cues; the ability to interpret social meaning through theory of mind, empathy, and pragmatic language; and the ability to reason about social problems. Furthermore, the better children perform on measures of SEL skill and the more their parents and teachers report that children can regulate their behavior, the more competent their social interactions.

Social Equity Theory and Racial‐Ethnic Achievement Gaps

In the United States, racial-ethnic differences on tests of school readiness and academic achievement continue. A complete understanding of the origins of racial-ethnic achievement gaps is still lacking. This article describes social equity theory (SET), which proposes that racial-ethnic achievement gaps originate from two kinds of social process, direct and signal influences, that these two kinds of processes operate across developmental contexts, and that the kind of influence and the setting in which they are enacted change with age. Evidence supporting each of SETs key propositions is discussed in the context of a critical review of research on the Black-White achievement gap. Specific developmental hypotheses derived from SET are described, along with proposed standards of evidence for testing those hypotheses.

Diagnostic efficiency of several methods of identifying socially rejected children and effect of participation rate on classification accuracy

Social rejection is associated with a wide variety of negative outcomes. Early identification of social rejection and intervention to minimize its negative impact is thus important. However, sociometric methods, which are considered high in validity for identifying socially rejected children, are frequently not used because of (a) procedural challenges, (b) community apprehension, and (c) sensitivity to missing data. In a sample of 316 students in grades K through 8, we used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses to compare the diagnostic efficiency of several methods for identifying socially rejected children. When not using least-liked nominations, (a) most-liked nominations yielded the greatest diagnostic efficiency (AUC=.96), (b) peer ratings were more efficient (AUC=.84 to .99) than teacher ratings (AUC=.74 to .81), and (c) teacher report of social status was more efficient (AUC=.81) than scores from teacher behavior rating scales (AUC=.74 to .75). We also examined the effects of nominator non-participation on diagnostic efficiency. At participation as low as 50%, classification of sociometric rejection (i.e., being rejected or not rejected) was quite accurate (κ=.63 to .77). In contrast, at participation as high as 70%, classification of sociometric status (i.e., popular, average, unclassified, neglected, controversial, or rejected) was significantly less accurate (κ=.50 to .59).

Concurrent validity and clinical usefulness of several individually administered tests of children's social-emotional cognition.

In this study, the validity of 5 tests of childrens social–emotional cognition, defined as their encoding, memory, and interpretation of social information, was tested. Participants were 126 clinic-referred children between the ages of 5 and 17. All 5 tests were evaluated in terms of their (a) concurrent validity, (b) incremental validity, and (c) clinical usefulness in predicting social functioning. Tests included measures of nonverbal sensitivity, social language, and social problem solving. Criterion measures included parent and teacher report of social functioning. Analyses support the concurrent validity of all measures, and the incremental validity and clinical usefulness of tests of pragmatic language and problem solving.

Direct assessment of children's social-emotional comprehension.

Social-emotional comprehension includes the ability to encode, interpret, and reason about social-emotional information. The better developed childrens social-emotional comprehension, the more positive their social interactions and the better their peer relationships. Many clinical tools exist to assess childrens social behavior. In contrast, fewer clinically interpretable tools are available to assess childrens social-emotional comprehension. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a group of direct assessments of social-emotional comprehension. Scores on these assessments reflected childrens performance on challenging tasks that required them to demonstrate their social-emotional comprehension. In 2 independent samples, including a general education school sample (n = 174) and a clinic sample (n = 119), this study provided evidence that (a) individual assessments yield variably reliable scores, (b) composite scores are highly reliable, (c) direct assessments demonstrate a theoretically coherent factor structure and convergent and discriminant validity, and (d) composite scores yield expected age- and diagnostic-group differences. Implications for clinical practice, theory, and assessment development are discussed.

Promoting Student Engagement Through Evidence-Based Action Research With Teachers

We present findings from a group-randomized teacher action research intervention to promote academic engagement and achievement among elementary school students. Eighteen teachers from 3 elementary schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Intervention teachers studied evidence-based instructional practices that cultivate academic engagement and conducted an action research project to implement selected practices in their classrooms. Control teachers participated in a self-study group and read about evidence-based practices to promote student engagement. Teachers in the action research group reported using more group-based instruction than self-study teachers. Students with initial low engagement and low reading grades demonstrated greater gains in these outcomes in action research classrooms than self-study classrooms. Implications for teacher development and the promotion of student academic outcomes are discussed.

Social-Emotional Correlates of Early Stage Social Information Processing Skills in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

Difficulty processing social information is a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet the failure of children with ASD to process social information effectively is poorly understood. Using Crick and Dodges model of social information processing (SIP), this study examined the relationship between social‐emotional (SE) skills of pragmatic language, theory of mind, and emotion recognition on the one hand, and early stage SIP skills of problem identification and goal generation on the other. The study included a sample of school‐aged children with and without ASD. SIP was assessed using hypothetical social situations in the context of a semistructured scenario‐based interview. Pragmatic language, theory of mind, and emotion recognition were measured using direct assessments. Social thinking differences between children with and without ASD are largely differences of quantity (overall lower performance in ASD), not discrepancies in cognitive processing patterns. These data support theoretical models of the relationship between SE skills and SIP. Findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms giving rise to SIP deficits in ASD and may ultimately inform treatment development for children with ASD. Autism Res 2015, 8: 486–496.

Web-Based Assessment of Children’s Social-Emotional Comprehension

This article presents results from two studies that included ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples totaling 4,462 children in kindergarten through third grade. Each study examined the psychometric properties of a web-based, self-administered battery of assessments of social-emotional comprehension called “SELweb.” Assessment modules measured children’s ability to read facial expressions, infer others’ perspectives, solve social problems, delay gratification, and tolerate frustration. Both studies provided evidence that (a) individual assessment modules exhibited moderate to high internal consistency and low to moderate test–retest reliability; (b) composite assessment scores exhibited high reliability; (c) together, assessment modules demonstrated a theoretically coherent factor structure; (d) factor scores demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity; and (e) controlling for IQ and demographic characteristics, performance on the assessment modules was positively related to peer acceptance, teacher report of social skills, and multiple indicators of academic achievement, and negatively related to teacher report of problem behaviors.

A Pilot Study Assessing the Feasibility of a Facial Emotion Training Paradigm for School-Age Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) demonstrate facial emotion recognition and expression impairments. These impairments may contribute to social disability and may put children with ASDs at risk for developing further mental health problems. In this pilot study, we examined the use of a coach- and computer-assisted facial emotion training program for children with ASDs. The intervention components focused on (a) increasing attention to relevant facial emotion cues, (b) increasing facial emotion recognition speed, and (c) using imitation to build skills of facial emotion expression. Three pilot participants demonstrated improved facial emotion recognition (accuracy and speed) of dynamic and static presentations of facial expressions and self-expression. Some improvements persisted 5 weeks after training. Results support the acceptability and feasibility of the training program. These preliminary findings are promising and suggest the need for replication with larger samples and further assessment of acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy.

A Pilot Study of Social Information Processing Skills in Girls With Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a well-described inherited cause of intellectual disability and the most common known genetic cause of autism. Social deficits in girls with FXS are not well understood. To better understand barriers to social functioning that may contribute to mental health outcomes, we administered a theoretically based social information processing (SIP) interview about challenging social situations to 11 verbal mental age-matched girls with and without FXS. We hypothesized that (a) girls with FXS have global SIP impairments and (b) less autism symptomatology is related to better SIP skills in girls with FXS. Compared to controls, girls with FXS performed significantly worse on an early SIP skill (problem identification). Scores on later SIP skills tended to be lower and exhibited moderate to strong effect sizes. Competency in goal generation was correlated with autistic-like communication skills. Systematic studies of SIP skills in larger cohorts of girls with FXS are warranted.