Investigation of Young Children's Social Skills Constructs Using Rasch Analysis

Abstract

Social skills are important for developing successful relationships and promoting learning. This study investigated the existence of the interpersonal social skills and learning related social skills constructs exhibited by young children within early childhood envrionments. One hundred and seventeen Singaporean children, aged 3 to 6 years, were observed during free play and work-related tasks. Teachers completed two social skills rating questionnaires. Rasch analysis was used, and results indicated that in addition to confirming the existence of these two constructs, other constructs such as Compliance and Group Social Interaction also emerged. The results indicate that occupational therapists need to consider a range of social skill constructs when assessing children's social participation.

Keywords:

• Early intervention (education)
• interpersonal relations
• social environment
• Rasch analysis
• learning-related social skills
• social participation

Acknowledgement

The early childhood educators, the parents who consented to their children's participation, and the children who took part as research subjects are thanked for their valuable contribution to the study. Acknowledgments are extended to the University of Queensland for the Faculty of Health Sciences International Scholarship, University of Queensland Research Scholarship and Graduate School Research Travel Grant, and KK Women's and Children's Hospital whose funding made this study possible. Thanks are extended to the Association for Early Childhood Educators Singapore for assistance with the recruitment and to Miss Lin Yan Xin and Miss Siew Lai Ching, who provided assistance with the data collection. Thanks are also extended to Clinical Professor Mary Donohue for the permission to use and assistance with scoring the Social Profile for Children and to Professor Mike Linacre for his guidance with the data analysis.

Notes

¹In Singapore, owing to the participants' age, some children may not have received a formal diagnosis despite displaying developmental concerns as identified by the teachers. The teachers were given a short screening form consisting of eight developmental areas (such as fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, play skills). The teachers were asked to indicate how concerned they were about the child's skills/abilities when compared to his/her peers (where 1 = no concerns to 10 = very concerned). For the purpose of data analysis, a child with concern scores of 30 or more out of 80 (≥ 30/80) was considered to be with special needs.