Developments in the Assessment of Social Skills and Social Competence in Children

The present paper reviews recent developments in the assessment of children's social competence and social skills. Current conceptual models of social competence and social skills are discussed and provide a basis against which assessment measures can be evaluated. Although many measures are now available, there is a lack of integration of assessment devices within a conceptually sound framework of an assessment system. Such an assessment system should distinguish between social competence and social skills, should take into account developmental, sex and cultural factors, and should assess at micro-versus macro-skill and overt versus cognitive levels of behaviour. The system should then integrate information within a cognitive-behavioural analysis, using data from a wide range of informants, from a range of settings. Greater attention to matters of reliability and validity of assessment measures is also necessary in the development of such a system.