| Social competence is associated with good mental health and psychological adjustment. Unfortunately, lack of a universal definition and understanding of the necessary skills, abilities, processes and variables associated with social competence has inhibited generalizability of research findings and has hampered efforts to clarify how children successfully develop social competence. The purpose of the present research is to examine the variables necessary for social competence development and examine the factors associated with social competence in children. In Phase One of the current research, 24.5 publications were analyzed to determine the domains related to social competence. Results revealed seven multi-dimensional domains, comprised of categories, subcategories, and category composites. The seven domains included: behavior, cognitive processes, child development, family, emotions, environment, and demographic characteristics. Information regarding frequency and sums of weighted scores were examined and analyzed.;Results of Phase One were utilized to develop the 1.59 item Social Competence Development Survey. Data from 129 completed surveys were submitted to Principal Components Analysis with varimax rotation. A five-component solution was retained, accounting for 51.11% of the total variance. Component one (individual characteristics) accounted for 14.37%, component two (family relationships) accounted for 10.24% of the variance, component three (family relationships) accounted for 9.30% of the variance, component four (peer relationships) accounted for 9.22% of the variance, and component five (classroom expectations) accounted for 8.04% of the variance. Results of the Principal Components Analysis were used to refine the Social Competence Development Survey, resulting in an 83 item survey. |
