Martin Gendron

Behaviour Disorders, Social Competence and the Practice of Physical Activities among Adolescents.

Abstract Behaviour disorders represent a major concern in todays schools. One widely used method to address these problems has been social skills training. To date, the efficiency of this training is modest with respect to the transfer, maintenance and generalization of the newly learned skills. The goal of this study is to compare the profiles of behaviourally disordered (BD) students with non-behaviourally disordered (non-BD) students with respect to variables associated with social skills, psychosocial adjustment, physical activity and certain health habits. This correlational study uses a sample of 12-14-year-old students from the region of Que´bec City, which includes identified BD students as well students not identified as BD. Analysis of the results reveals that the BD students show lower levels of social skills, cooperation, self-esteem and self-efficacy. In addition, the results show that non-BD students participate in more organized sports activities than do their equally active BD peers, who tend to practice non-organized sports activities. In conclusion, the authors propose different intervention approaches for use in social skills training programmes for students with behavioural disorders.