Social Competence and Temperament in Children with Chronic Orthopaedic Disability

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate social competence in children with orthopaedic disability and its concurrent relations to child's temperament, health condition, and maternal warmth. Participants were 68 Turkish children (mean = 5.94 years) with chronic orthopaedic disability and their mothers coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mother ratings were used to measure social competence, temperament, general health condition, and parental warmth. The attending physician rated the severity of orthopaedic disability. Attentional focusing, emotional reactivity, and child's sex significantly predicted social competence. Age at first operation was slightly negatively associated with reactivity. The findings revealed the importance of emotional and attentional regulation for social functioning in children with orthopaedic disability, and pointed to the susceptibility of reactivity to environmental conditions. The study suggested that social functioning of youth with orthopaedic disability might benefit from temperament-based intervention and prevention programmes.

Promoting social competence in young children with disabilities.

“…Hartup (1988) noted the consequences of a lack of appropriate and effective social skills: "the single best childhood predictor of adult adaptations is not school grades, and not classroom behavior, but rather, the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children" (p. 1). The severity and onset of the developmental disability also play a considerable role in children's overall social competence abilities (Yagmurlu & Yavuz, 2015).…”

Parent and teacher perceptions of the importance of social-emotional learning in the schools

“…One such factor is the presence of a disability, as research indicates that children with disabilities face challenges regarding social and emotional competence. These disabilities include learning disabilities (Nowicki, 2003), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (Semrud-Clikeman & Schafer, 2000), orthopedic disabilities (Yagmurlu & Yavuz, 2015), autism spectrum disorder (American Psychological Association, 2013), specific language impairment (McCabe & Meller, 2004), and emotional disturbance (Algozzine, 2017). Interventions to ameliorate social and emotional deficits include, but are not limited to, direct instruction, modeling, and prompting strategies (Guralnick, 2010).…”

“…Other research has shown that many other children who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 Plans also may have difficulties in social competence, including children with ADHD (Thorell & Rydell, 2008), autism spectrum disorder (American Psychological Association, 2013), specific language impairment (McCabe & Meller, 2004), psychiatric disorders (Matthews et al, 2016;Perren & Alsaker, 2009), and physical disorders (Yagmurlu & Yavuz, 2015). Deficits in social competence have been linked to peer rejection.…”