Contribution of emotional and sociocognitive aspects to social behavior of Argentinean children

REYNA CE; BRUSSINO SA

Montreal

Congreso; Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting; 2011

Adaptative behavior in social terms involves the deployment of behaviors that allow achieve effective social interactions (Gresham, Sugai, & Horner, 2001; Rose-Krasnor, 1997). On the contrary, behavior problems involve non-adaptive behavior, either externalizing or internalizing problems. Several studies highlight the relevance of emotional and sociocognitive aspects for social development. It highlights the role of emotionality (reactive component of emotion, with specific thresholds of response, latency, intensity and reaction time) (Rothbart, 1989), and emotional regulation (ability to manipulate emotional arousal) (Eisenberg, Fabes , Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000; Rydell, Berlin, & Bohlin, 2003). Likewise, models of social information processing (SIP) have offered explanations on the relationship between cognition and behavior during development (Crick & Dodge, 1994; Fontaine, 2010; Lemerise & Arsenio, 2000), considering that persons understand and interpret social situations in different ways, and that those differences along with past experiences and biological factors influence their present behavior. In Argentina there are a growing interest in the study of sociocognitive and emotional child development (Colombo & Lipina, 2005; Ison, 2004; Richaud, 2007; Schulz, 2009). Trying to move in that line of knowledge, this study examined the predictive power of SIP and emotional factors on the social behavior of kindergarten children. The sample included 95 children of 5 years old (54.7% women) from Cordoba city (Argentina), their parents and teachers (accidental selection). Parents completed a questionnaire on emotional aspects (Rydell et al., 2003), teachers reported on social behavior of children (Merrell, 2003, Reyna & Brussino, 2009) and children completed a task of SIP (three global scores of SIP were elaborated according to emotional expression exhibited by the provocateur: anger, sadness, happiness). After descriptive and correlational analysis were developed hierarchical regression analysis on each dimension of the behavioral variables with the following variables as predictors: sex, emotionality and SIP. Results revealed that women had better social skills while boys had more behavior problems, this was observed for total scores and each of the dimensions on analysis. The dimensions of emotionality only showed significant relationships with social skills and not with behavior problems. Specifically, higher levels of emotionality on positive emotions predicted higher levels of social interaction and independence, and curiously, higher levels of emotionality on anger predicted higher levels of interaction, independence and social skills in general. Moreover, SIP scores contributed particularly to each of the behavioral dimensions. A better performance in SIP-Sadness and SIP-Happiness predicted higher levels of social skills (with exception of some dimensions), while a better performance in SIP-Sadness predicted lower levels of externalizing behavior problems and behavior problems in general. The understanding of social functioning in relation to other processes offer a more accurate picture of child development. The findings of this study highlight the connection between social, emotional and sociocognitive aspects, with particular contributions according to involved emotion, in line with international studies. We highlight the limitations and future lines of action.