Prosocial skills may be necessary for better peer functioning in children with symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders

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Abstract

Children with disruptive behavior disorders experience substantial social challenges; however, the factors that account for (i.e., mediate), or influence (i.e., moderate), peer problems are not well understood. This study tested whether symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder were associated with peer impairment and whether prosocial skills mediated or moderated these associations. Teacher ratings were gathered for 149 children (Mage = 9.09, SD = 1.71, 26% female) referred for behavioral concerns to an urban child psychiatry clinic. Path-analytic linear regressions testing mediation and moderation effects showed that prosocial skills significantly moderated the negative effects of symptoms of Conduct Disorder on peer impairment. Children showed less peer impairment only when they had relatively few conduct symptoms and high prosocial skills. Measurement of prosocial skills, in addition to conduct problems, may best capture factors which contribute to peer problems of children with disruptive behaviors.

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Psychometric Properties of the Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-Year-Olds: A Review

Lisanne L. Stone, Roy Otten, Rutger C. M. E. Engels … (2010)

Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds. Results from 48 studies (N = 131,223) on reliability and validity of the parent and teacher SDQ are summarized quantitatively and descriptively. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement are satisfactory for the parent and teacher versions. At subscale level, the reliability of the teacher version seemed stronger compared to that of the parent version. Concerning validity, 15 out of 18 studies confirmed the five-factor structure. Correlations with other measures of psychopathology as well as the screening ability of the SDQ are sufficient. This review shows that the psychometric properties of the SDQ are strong, particularly for the teacher version. For practice, this implies that the use of the SDQ as a screening instrument should be continued. Longitudinal research studies should investigate predictive validity. For both practice and research, we emphasize the use of a multi-informant approach.

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Positive psychology. An introduction.

M E Seligman, M Csikszentmihalyi (2000)

A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless. The exclusive focus on pathology that has dominated so much of our discipline results in a model of the human being lacking the positive features that make life worth living. Hope, wisdom, creativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance are ignored or explained as transformations of more authentic negative impulses. The 15 articles in this millennial issue of the American Psychologist discuss such issues as what enables happiness, the effects of autonomy and self-regulation, how optimism and hope affect health, what constitutes wisdom, and how talent and creativity come to fruition. The authors outline a framework for a science of positive psychology, point to gaps in our knowledge, and predict that the next century will see a science and profession that will come to understand and build the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish.

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The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children's future social adjustment.

N. Crick (1996)

2 limitations of past research on social adjustment were addressed: (1) the tendency to focus on forms of aggression that are typical of boys (e.g., overt aggression) and to neglect forms that are more typical of girls (e.g., relational aggression) and (2) the tendency to study negative behaviors (e.g., aggression), to the exclusion of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial acts). Using a longitudinal design (n = 245; third- through sixth-grade children, 9-12 years old), assessments of children's relational aggression, overt aggression, prosocial behavior, and social adjustment were obtained at 3 points during the academic year. Findings showed that, as has been demonstrated in past research for overt aggression, individual differences in relational aggression were relatively stable over time. Additionally, relational aggression contributed uniquely to the prediction of future social maladjustment, beyond that predicted by overt aggression. Finally, prosocial behavior contributed unique information (beyond that provided by overt and relational aggression) to the prediction of future social adjustment.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Brendan F. Andrade

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PeerJ

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PeerJ

Journal ID (pmc): PeerJ

Journal ID (publisher-id): PeerJ

Title: PeerJ

Publisher: PeerJ Inc. (San Francisco, USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 2167-8359

Publication date (Electronic): 15 July 2014

Publication date Collection: 2014

Volume: 2

Electronic Location Identifier: e487

Affiliations

[1 ]Centre for Addiction and Mental Health , Toronto, ON, Canada

[2 ]Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON, Canada

[3 ]Ontario Institutes for Studies in Education, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON, Canada

[4 ]Hospital for Sick Children , Toronto, ON, Canada

Article

Publisher ID: 487

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.487

PMC ID: 4106187

SO-VID: 5e2988d5-6ce6-4642-bf81-4ca474a25313

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.

History

Date received : 8 April 2014

Date accepted : 25 June 2014

Funding

Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grant

Award ID: 11398

Data collected for this project was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grant #11398 to Dr. Tannock. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Prosocial skills may be necessary for better peer functioning in children with symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders

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Most cited references 50

Psychometric Properties of the Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-Year-Olds: A Review

Positive psychology. An introduction.

The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children's future social adjustment.

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