Characteristics of social cognition in children with different symptom patterns

doi:10.1016/0193-3973(85)90002-4

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Volume 6, Issue 4, October–December 1985, Pages 277-290

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Abstract

Clinically referred 6- to 12-year-old children as having Internalizing or Externalizing symptoms patterns on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist were compared on two social perspective taking tasks and three measures of personality. On the Chandler Social Perspective Taking Task and an interview assessing the conceptual understanding of friendship devised by Selman, social cognitive immaturity was more likely to be associated with Externalizing rather than Internalizing symptomatology, especially in boys. Both Internalizers and Externalizers maintained an expected developmental course on these measures, however, when compared to normative data. Greater maturity in the understanding of friendship was found among children who had higher self-esteem and a more internal locus of control and who used more adaptive coping strategies in stressful situations. Methodological issues in studies of psychopathology and social cognition are discussed along with the usefulness of assessing social cognitive maturity in clinical practice.

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Cited by (23)

Brief report: How anxiously withdrawn preadolescents think about friendship
2012, Journal of Adolescence
Previous research suggests that anxiously withdrawn preadolescents demonstrate success in forming friendships, yet these friendships tend to be of lesser quality. Drawing on Selman’s (1980) theory of interpersonal understanding, we compared levels of friendship understanding between anxiously withdrawn preadolescents and a sample of non-withdrawn age mates. Fifth graders (N = 116; 58% girls; mean age = 10.33 yrs) completed same-sex friendship and social behavior nominations, as well as a semi-structured clinical interview assessing understanding of various friendship issues in response to a hypothetical friendship dilemma. Results suggest that anxiously withdrawn preadolescents demonstrated lower levels of friendship understanding for some, but not all, friendship issues that may be related to friendship quality. The findings suggest that social cognitive assessments of friendship may be useful in understanding the friendship successes and difficulties of anxiously withdrawn preadolescents.
Cognitive Social Skills and Social Self-Appraisal in Depressed Adolescents
1993, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
This study was undertaken to determine whether the social cognitive skills and social self-appraisal of depressed adolescents differed from those of other adolescents with nonaffective psychiatric disorders or of adolescents free from disorder.
Within the age range of 15 to 19, 38 depressed adolescent outpatients (14 boys, 24 girls); 31 nondepressed adolescent outpatients (17 boys, 14 girls); and 34 normal highschool students (18 boys, 16 girls) were assessed using the following dependent measures: Interpersonal Negotiation Interview, Adolescent Social Problem Solving Measure, Adolescent Self Perception Profile, and Interpersonal Dependency Inventory.
Depressed adolescents were found to have significantly more negative selfconcepts and significantly less social self-confidence than either comparison group. They did not differ from the other adolescents in either social problem-solving ability or interpersonal understanding.
These results indicate that depressed adolescents have unique deficits in social self-evaluation which contribute to ineffective social behavior and the maintenance of dysphoric affect. Treatment of social skill deficits should be based on a careful assessment of the patient's functioning in this area.
Maternal depressive symptoms and child functioning
1992, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Personality and cognitive functioning, as well as problem behaviors, were assessed in clinically referred 6- to 12-year-old children at risk due to maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal symptoms were associated with lower self-esteem, a more external locus of control, poorer social perspective taking ability, and higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems in boys. In contrast, daughters of mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms exhibited greater ability in social perspective taking. These findings underscore the importance of including direct measures of personality functioning and considering gender differences in the assessment of children of depressive mothers.
Perspective taking and adolescent sex offenders: From developmental theory to clinical practice
2003, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
Clinical child researchers and practitioners face increasing pressure to more fully incorporate developmental findings and principles into their work. In describing a developmental approach to the assessment and treatment of perspective-taking deficits in adolescent sex offenders, we discuss some of the benefits and difficulties inherent in such integrative efforts. Following an overview of the clinical literature on juvenile sexual offending that focuses on the roles of perspective taking and empathy, we turn to a review of the developmental literature. This literature, particularly the model proposed by Selman, provides a rich conceptual foundation for understanding the relationship between perspective-taking skills and sexual offenses. We then describe our efforts to incorporate this model into clinical practice. The article concludes with an illustrative case example.
Improving Our Understanding of Impaired Social Problem-Solving in Children and Adolescents with Conduct Problems: Implications for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
2022, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
Social cognition and social competence in childhood through adolescence
2019, Organizing Early Experience: Imagination and Cognition in Childhood

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^☆: This research was supported by Health and Welfare (Canada) Grant No. 6606-1860-42 to Nancy J. Cohen and William Wehrspann. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the staff and secretaries in the Department of Psychiatry at The Hospital for Sick Children. We also want to thank Howell Gotlieb for his help in data collection and Marie Algieri for her assistance in data scoring and coding. A version of this paper was presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Detroit, 1983.

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Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Abstract

References (29)

The development of interpersonal competence: The reole of understanding in conduct

Developmental Review

Social cognition, affect, and behavior: An essay and review of Robert Selman's The growth of interpersonal understanding: Developmental and cilini cal analyses

Developmental Review

The child behavior profile: I Boys aged 6–11

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Role-taking skills in preadolescents

Egocentrism and classroom adjustment

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Egocentric and antisocial behavior: The assessment and training of social perspective taking

Developmental Psychology

Assessment and training of role-taking and referential communication skills in institutionalized emotionally disturbed children

Developmental Psychology

Development of an objective problems/strengths assessment battery for use in a children's mental health setting

Final report to Health and Welfare, Canada

Social cognition and children's aggressive behavior

Child Development

Children's responses to frustration: A developmental study

Canadian Journal of Psychology

A typology of child behavior profile patterns: Distribution and correlates for disturbed children aged 6–16

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Development and evaluation of school-based assessment and treatment approaches for depressed children

Reiview of the internal-external control construct as a personality variable

Psychological Reports

Social cognitive characteristics of children with different psychiatric syndromes

Cited by (23)

Brief report: How anxiously withdrawn preadolescents think about friendship

Cognitive Social Skills and Social Self-Appraisal in Depressed Adolescents

Maternal depressive symptoms and child functioning

Perspective taking and adolescent sex offenders: From developmental theory to clinical practice

Improving Our Understanding of Impaired Social Problem-Solving in Children and Adolescents with Conduct Problems: Implications for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Social cognition and social competence in childhood through adolescence

Characteristics of social cognition in children with different symptom patterns☆

Abstract

Developmental Review

Developmental Review

The child behavior profile: I Boys aged 6–11

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Role-taking skills in preadolescents

Egocentrism and classroom adjustment

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Egocentric and antisocial behavior: The assessment and training of social perspective taking

Developmental Psychology

Assessment and training of role-taking and referential communication skills in institutionalized emotionally disturbed children

Developmental Psychology

Development of an objective problems/strengths assessment battery for use in a children's mental health setting

Final report to Health and Welfare, Canada

Social cognition and children's aggressive behavior

Child Development

Children's responses to frustration: A developmental study

Canadian Journal of Psychology

A typology of child behavior profile patterns: Distribution and correlates for disturbed children aged 6–16

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Development and evaluation of school-based assessment and treatment approaches for depressed children

Reiview of the internal-external control construct as a personality variable

Psychological Reports

Social cognitive characteristics of children with different psychiatric syndromes