Social Isolation and Social Problem Solving: A Longitudinal Study

The social problem-solving (SPS) abilities of children who were observed to interact infrequently with their peers were investigated in two studies. In Study 1 the stability of isolate and social behavior in kindergarten and Grade 1 was examined. The relations between the observed frequency of isolate and social play and SPS were computed. Isolate and social behaviors were found to be moderately stable from kindergarten to Grade 1. Moreover, both quantitative and qualitative indexes of SPS competence correlated (concurrently and predictively) in a negative direction with the observed frequency of isolate play and in a positive direction with social play. In Study 2 the relations between frequency of isolate and social play and naturalistic SPS skills were examined. The data revealed that nonassertive, compliant SPS strategies observed in kindergarten correlated concurrently, but moderately, with isolate play in kindergarten and predictively with isolate play in Grade 1.

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