College of Education
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1647
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Effects of foster care intervention and caregiving quality on the bidirectional development of executive functions and social skills following institutional rearing(Wiley, 2022-08-07) Zeytinoglu, Selin; Tang, Alva; Zeanah, Charles H.; Nelson, Charles A.; Almas, Alisa N.; Fox, Nathan A.Institutional rearing negatively impacts the development of children's social skills and executive functions (EF). However, little is known about whether childhood social skills mediate the effects of the foster care intervention (FCG) and foster caregiving quality following early institutional rearing on EF and social skills in adolescence. We examined (a) whether children's social skills at 8 years mediate the impact of the FCG on the development of EF at ages 12 and 16 years, and (b) whether social skills and EF at ages 8 and 12 mediate the relation between caregiving quality in foster care at 42 months and subsequent social skills and EF at age 16. Participants included abandoned children from Romanian institutions, who were randomly assigned to a FCG (n = 68) or care as usual (n = 68), and a never-institutionalized group (n = 135). At ages 8, 12, and 16, social skills were assessed via caregiver and teacher reports and EF were assessed via the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Caregiving quality of foster caregivers was observed at 42 months. FCG predicted better social skills at 8 years, which in turn predicted better EF in adolescence. Higher caregiver quality in foster care at 42 months predicted better social skills at 8 and 12 years, and better EF at 12 years, which in turn predicted 16-year EF and social skills. These findings suggest that interventions targeting caregiving quality within foster care home environments may have long-lasting positive effects on children's social skills and EF.Item The Effects of Observed Friendship Formation on Group Level Peer Experiences: A Study of Behaviorally Inhibited Preschooler(2020) Fleece, Hailey; Rubin, Kenneth H; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early social withdrawal places children at a greater risk for later internalizing disorders and peer difficulties. However, positive friendships can serve as a buffer against this trajectory. Currently, very little is known about if friendships develop between preschool aged withdrawn children, and how this affects their group level peer processes. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether socially withdrawn children who made a friend demonstrated gains in social skills in their preschool classrooms over an 8-week period during which they had participated in an intervention designed to increase social interaction and decrease social reticence. Overall, the children who made a friend over the intervention period had less observed reticent behavior and more prosocial behavior in their preschool classrooms both before and after the intervention period. These children entered the intervention with more advanced social skills and were able to utilize them to develop a meaningful friendship.Item Parent- and Teacher-Rated Social Skills and Theory of Mind in Kindergarteners(2018) Caputo, Maryke Haasbroek; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated how kindergartners’ use of Theory of Mind (ToM; understanding and inferring others’ mental states to predict and explain behavior) relate to their Social Competence (SC), as rated by parents and teachers. This study aimed to determine whether social skills items could be classified as more or less conventional (knowledge of emotions and social conventions) or intentional (requires noticing and interpreting other’s beliefs and intentions) based on their correlates with more or less structured performance measures of ToM, respectively. Results partially supported this this distinction. Patterns suggested that parents and teachers judge children’s social skills differently. This study also explored relations of language with SC and ToM. Language accounted for much of the variance in the more structured ToM task and teacher-rated social skills, but not the less structured ToM task or parent-rated social skills. Implications for SC conceptualization and scale construction and interpretation are discussed.Item The effects of social skills instruction on the social behaviors and academic engagement of elementary students with challenging behaviors(2011) Kieta, Sharon Ruth; Kohl, Frances L; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Social skills are critical to the success of students in elementary school. Antisocial behaviors interfere with the development and maintenance of positive relationships and with the academic success of students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social skills instruction on the social behaviors and academic engagement of elementary school students with challenging behaviors in classroom settings. A multiple probe across participants design was used. Three general education teachers conducted nine lessons from the SSIS Classwide Intervention Program during health class. Direct observations of positive social behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and academic engagement were conducted during baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions on one target student with challenging behaviors in three general education teachers' classrooms during core instructional classes such as math, language arts. and science. The SSIS Classwide Intervention Program positively impacted positive social behaviors and academic engagement for all three target students and these improved behavioral outcomes persisted two to eight weeks after the intervention ended. Antisocial behaviors decreased for two of the three students and this improved behavioral outcome persisted four to eight weeks after the intervention ended. All three students had some difficulty using the skills learned when a substitute conducted their class. General education teacher participants reported satisfaction with program planning, implementation, and the effectiveness of the intervention for target students and their entire class. Two additional teachers providing intercultural education to the same three classes reported behavioral improvements for all three students but only improved behavior for one teacher's class as a whole. Student participant responses to the intervention were mixed. Overall, the SSIS Classwide Intervention Program was an effective and socially valid means of increasing positive social behavior and academic engagement and decreasing antisocial behavior among elementary students with challenging behaviors. The results of this study contributed to the research based on the efficacy of classwide social skills instruction. Furthermore, the results of this study provided evidence for teachers and administrators advocating for the financial resources and instructional time to implement social skills instruction in the general education program.Item Cost-Effectiveness of an Enhanced Whole-School Social Competency Intervention(2008-10-22) Huang, Sharon; Gottfredson, Gary D; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background The cost and efficacy literature regarding elementary school-based preventative programs is limited, and many cost and efficacy studies suffer from research design and methodology problems. Purpose This study compares the marginal costs of a specific whole-school intervention to marginal costs of control school programs. It also assesses the cost-effectiveness of treatment and control interventions with respect to self-reported aggression, academic grades, and Maryland State Assessment (MSA) scores. Setting The study takes place in elementary schools in Anne Arundel County, a relatively diverse, suburban county in Maryland. Subjects Counselors (n=9) and principals (n=11) from 12 schools; the project manager, data clerk, and coordinator of guidance from the school system central office; and five research team members completed questionnaires about their time use. The study relies on efficacy data from another study. Intervention Implemented for three years, Second Step is a popular preventative, school-wide social competency program that aims to augment students' social skills and prevent problem behavior (Frey, Hirschstein, & Guzzo, 2000). Using manual-based lessons, classroom teachers in first through fifth grades were trained to deliver 30-minute lessons once a week to their classes in the areas of empathy, anger management, problem solving, and impulse control. Teachers also supplemented the formal lessons by reinforcing what had been taught at other times during the day (Frey et al., 2000). The intervention was enhanced by adding specific implementation standards and the use of periodic feedback about implementation to intervention managers and teachers. Research Design and Methods This study makes use of results from a large-scale randomized controlled trial that investigated the efficacy of Second Step. Researchers selected 12 elementary schools that had never implemented Second Step to participate, and these schools were matched based on their demographics and achievement history. Within each pair of schools, researchers randomly assigned one school to the treatment group and one to the control group. The methodology used for assessing costs is the ingredients approach (Levin & McEwan, 2001). Data Collection and Analysis Effect sizes for third and fourth graders for the third year are obtained from outcome evaluation reports. Third-year costs are added to retrospective training costs to estimate three-year costs. Data for costs of personnel time are collected in the form of time-use questionnaires, supplemental teacher questionnaires, and implementation logs. Accounting expenditures, rental agreements, and contacts with district personnel provide other cost data. To reflect current and annual costs and to account for opportunity costs, costs are discounted (expressing future costs in terms of their present values) and amortized (distributing a cost across its lifetime). Finally, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios are calculated for some of the outcome measures examined. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to consider variability in cost and cost-effectiveness estimates. Results Results imply that the enhanced whole-school social competency intervention attained no positive effects in student self-reported aggression, academic grades and MSA scores, at a cost of only $69 less per student over a three-year implementation period. Conclusions The enhanced whole-school social competency intervention is no more cost-effective than the control programs: annual marginal student costs are only slightly less than those of the control program, and the program is not efficacious. Limitations include the small number of schools and personnel and correspondingly large standard errors for effect sizes, the use of self-report methods to estimate time, and dependence on unreliable accounting expenditure data from the school district. Undependability of cost data may result from both measurement error and bias. In addition, since this particular Second Step program was implemented in only one school district, its generalizability to other school districts or variations of program implementation is unexplored. Despite these limitations, the study provides a range of credible values for cost-effectiveness for the program. It may provide insight to the scientific community about the costs involved in operating an enhanced whole-school intervention to share with school administrators and educators in their considerations of elementary school-based preventative interventions.Item An Examination of Treatment Integrity Practices and Behavioral Outcomes When Utilizing the Second Step Curriculum(2004-04-30) Reed, Jocelyn G.; Strein, William; Counseling and Personnel ServicesSchool violence is a major problem in urban schools requiring intensive preventative and intervention practices. Social skills training programs can help teach students the nonverbal and verbal behaviors used in interactions with others that can lead to positive social outcomes (Korinek & Popp, 1997). However, very little research has addressed the degree to which a social skills training program was implemented with integrity. Similarly, little is known about the acceptability of many widely used social skills training programs. This study will contribute to the research base of social skills training by increasing the knowledge base for the treatment acceptability of and treatment integrity practices utilized when teaching the Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum (Committee for Children, 1992). This case study utilized a qualitative approach to evaluate teachers' perceived and actual implementation practices, level of treatment integrity and treatment acceptability when utilizing Second Step. Classroom observations of implementation of critical lesson components revealed that most teachers implemented second step with low levels of integrity. Focus groups conducted with teachers revealed moderate to strong levels of acceptability for Second Step. Teachers were generally aware of the lesson components that they did not implement, but generally tended to over emphasize their use of other lesson components (e.g., role plays). Difficulties with program implementation included the lack of sufficient time to implement the program and relevance of some of the lesson particularly with English language learners. Teacher acceptance was both positively and negatively related to treatment integrity levels.