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Developmental Factors Related to the Assessment of Social Skills

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Practitioner's Guide to Empirically Based Measures of Social Skills

Part of the book series: ABCT Clinical Assessment Series ((ABCT))

Abstract

A developmental perspective is critical when assessing children’s social skills. The behaviors that foster peer acceptance and those that elicit peer dislike change with age. Concurrently, the cognitive capacities that children bring to bear when analyzing and solving their social problems undergo significant qualitative transformations. Dramatic changes also occur in the nature of the social contexts that children navigate at different ages. All of these factors affect the degree to which particular behaviors and cognitions are adaptive socially and, hence, affect the operational definition and assessment of social skills at various ages (Bierman & Montminy, 1993). This chapter begins with an overview describing the influence of development on social competence and social skills. Then, in separate sections, we characterize the nature of peer

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, 251 Moore Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Karen L. Bierman

  2. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Marcela M. Torres & Hannah-Lise T. Schofield

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  1. Karen L. Bierman
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  2. Marcela M. Torres
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  3. Hannah-Lise T. Schofield
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, University of Maine, Little Hall 5742, Orono, 04469, U.S.A.

    Douglas W. Nangle

  2. Dept. Psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Lincoln, 68588-0308, U.S.A.

    David J. Hansen

  3. Dept. Psychology, University of Maine, Little Hall 5742, Orono, 04469, U.S.A.

    Cynthia A. Erdley

  4. Dept. Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, 77204, U.S.A.

    Peter J. Norton

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Bierman, K.L., Torres, M.M., Schofield, HL.T. (2010). Developmental Factors Related to the Assessment of Social Skills. In: Nangle, D., Hansen, D., Erdley, C., Norton, P. (eds) Practitioner's Guide to Empirically Based Measures of Social Skills. ABCT Clinical Assessment Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0609-0_8

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