Susanne A. Denham

Affective Social Competence

A theoretical model for affective social competence is described. Affective social competence (ASC) is comprised of three integrated and dynamic components: sending affective messages, receiving affective messages, and experiencing affect. Central and interconnected abilities within each component include awareness and identification of affect, working within a complex and constantly changing social context, and management and regulation. The dynamic integration of the components is emphasized and potential mediating factors are outlined. The model is placed within the context of previous research and theory related to affective social competence; how the model advances future research is also explicated for each component. Research with special populations of children is described to highlight the importance of affective social competence in social relationships and the promise of the ASC model for future research and practice.

“Plays Nice With Others”: Social–Emotional Learning and Academic Success

Research Findings: Social–emotional learning (SEL) is increasingly becoming an area of focus for determining childrens school readiness and predicting their academic success. Practice or Policy: The current article outlines a model of SEL, identifies specific SEL skills, and discusses how such skills contribute and relate to academic success. Given that SEL skills may vary within person and across environments, the authors also discuss the concept of SEL skills as hybrid variables. Possible shared underlying mechanisms and their reciprocal nature, as well as assessment of and programming for SEL skills, are also discussed. Lastly, the authors bring attention to important policy considerations that aim to positively influence the learning environment for all children.

A social-emotional intervention for at-risk 4-year-olds

Abstract Implemented a social-emotional intervention for at-risk 4-year-olds in seven day-care classes. Teachers were trained to perform activities associated with relationship building, emotional understanding, and social problem solving, over a 32-week period. The childrens social-emotional status was assessed via observation and teacher questionnaire at the beginning and end of the period, and compared to a group who did not experience the intervention. Children who had the intervention, compared to children who did not experience it, were observed showing decreases in negative emotion, greater involvement, and more initiative in positive peer activity, and were seen as improving socially by their teachers.

Assessing social-emotional development in children from a longitudinal perspective.

This paper provides an overview of methodological challenges related to the epidemiological assessment of social-emotional development in children. Because population-based studies involve large cohorts and are usually multicentre in structure, they have cost, participant burden and other specific issues that affect the feasibility of the types of measures that can be administered. Despite these challenges, accurate in-depth assessment of social-emotional functioning is crucial, based on its importance to child outcomes like mental health, academic performance, delinquency and substance abuse. Five dimensions of social-emotional development in children are defined: (1) social competence; (2) attachment; (3) emotional competence; (4) self-perceived competence; and (5) temperament/personality. Their measurement in a longitudinal study and associated challenges are discussed. Means of making valid, reliable assessments while at the same time minimising the multiple challenges posed in the epidemiological assessment of social-emotional development in children are reviewed.

Children's social problem-solving skills, behavioral adjustment, and interventions: A meta-analysis evaluating theory and practice

Abstract Meta-analyses were performed to examine reported relations between childrens interpersonal cognitive problem-solving (ICPS) skills and adjustment, and to specify the effects of ICPS training. In general, the relation between ICPS and adjustment appears robust, and interventions yield clear increases in ICPS skills. Intervention effects on behavioral adjustment are somewhat more equivocal; meta-analytic results differ depending on whether behavioral ratings or observations are the dependent variables. Age of subject, source of publication, and expertise of investigator are boundary conditions for the meta-analysis regarding ICPS and adjustment; teacher/child dialogues on ICPS principles in real-life situations, expertise of investigator, source and quality of publication, and length of interventions mediate magnitude of certain intervention effects. Further research is needed where data were sparse, as in follow-up data and effects of intervention for various special populations.

Preschoolers at play: Co-socialisers of emotional and social competence

Emotional competence is a contributor to young children’s social success. This study focused on these contributions from a relational perspective. The emotional expressions, and reactions to others’ emotional expressions, of 145 predominately Caucasian/middle income 3- and 4-year-olds were observed in their classrooms during unstructured play. Participants’ and playmates’ emotions and emotional responsiveness were classified into positive and negative playgroup types. Participants’ social competence was measured using peers, teachers, and parents as informants. Results indicate that preschoolers in playgroups characterised by anger and negative emotional responsiveness are evaluated as lacking in social competence up to a year later. Additionally, security of attachment and externalising temperament predicted membership in such playgroups. These effects held true more often for boys.

Observing Preschoolers’ Social-Emotional Behavior: Structure, Foundations, and Prediction of Early School Success

ABSTRACT Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private childcare and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and stability of both versions; and, using the shortened measure, to examine (b) age, gender, and risk status differences in social-emotional behaviors; (c) contributions of emotion knowledge and executive function to social-emotional behaviors; and (d) contributions of social-emotional behaviors to early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. Results show that reliability of MPAC-R/S was as good, or better, than the MPAC-R. MPAC-R/S structure, at both times of observation, included emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive behaviors; MPAC-R structure was similar but less replicable over time. Age, gender, and risk differences were found. Childrens emotion knowledge contributed to later emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior. Finally, preschool emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors were associated with concurrent and kindergarten school success, and there was evidence of social-emotional behavior mediating relations between emotion knowledge or executive function, and school outcomes. The importance of portable, empirically supported observation measures of social-emotional behaviors is discussed along with possible applications, teacher utilization, and implementation barriers.

Compromised Emotional Competence: Seeds of Violence Sown Early?

The authors expected less secure preschoolers to be less emotionally competent when interacting with peers at age 3 and that these emotionally incompetent children, especially those who showed much unregulated anger, would be less socially competent in kindergarten. These directional hypotheses were examined in a sample of 91 preschoolers, and all were corroborated.

Preschoolers' emotion knowledge: self-regulatory foundations, and predictions of early school success.

Preschoolers (N=322 in preschool, 100 in kindergarten) were assessed longitudinally to examine the self-regulatory roots of emotion knowledge (labelling and situation) and the contributions of emotion knowledge to early school adjustment (i.e., including social, motivational, and behavioural indices), as well as moderation by age, gender, and risk. Age, gender, and risk differences in emotion knowledge were also examined. Emotion knowledge skills were found to be more advanced in older children and those not at economic risk, and in those with higher levels of self-regulation. Overall, the results support the role of emotion knowledge in early school adjustment and academic success even with gender, age, and risk covaried, especially for boys, older preschoolers, and those at economic risk.

Kindergarten Social-Emotional Competence: Developmental Predictors and Psychosocial Implications

Forty-nine children ( M age =46.36 v mths) participated in a study of the predictors of social-emotional competence in kindergarten. This study longitudinally examined relations among child-mother attachment at age 3, family stress at ages 3, 4, and 5, and social-emotional outcomes in kindergarten. Attachment was measured using the Attachment Q-Set and family stress was determined using the Life Experiences Survey. At kindergarten age, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18, teachers completed the Preschool Socioaffective Profile, and focal childrens peers completed a sociometric task to determine peer popularity. Results suggest that less secure children are more aggressive and less socially competent in kindergarten, and children who experience more family stress in their preschool years are more aggressive and anxious and less socially competent in kindergarten than their peers who experience less family stress in those same years. Teachers report that boys are more aggressive and anxious in the kindergarten classroom than are girls.