Other 'What Works' Topics
Social Competency
By Elizabeth C. Hair, Ph.D., Justin Jager, and Sarah B. Garrett
TABLE 1 TABLE 2 TABLE 3 TABLE 4 TABLE 5 TABLE 6 TABLE 7
Parent-Child Relationship Sibling Relationships Grandparent and Other Family Member Relationships Non-Familial Adult Relationships Peer Relationships: Platonic Relationships Peer Relationships: Romantic Relationships Conflict Resolution Skills
TABLE 8 TABLE 9 TABLE 10 TABLE 11 TABLE 12    
Intimacy Skills Prosocial Behaviors Self-Control/Behavior Regulation Social Confidence: Assertiveness, Self-Efficacy, and Initiative Empathy/Sympathy    
Family Relationships

  Experimental Research Studies Non-Experimental Research Studies
Parent-Child Relationship
Program Level

- Big Brothers/Big Sisters (BB/BS): A one-on-one mentoring program for youth. The treatment sample experienced an increase in quality of the parent-child relationship.

 
Individual Level

-Significant degree of respect in parent-child relationships.

-Attachment to parents, particularly the father, during childhood.

-Discouragement of qualities such as anxiety, bullying, or a quick temper in the adolescent.

-Limited participation in dating and hetero-social relationships.

Parent Level

-In cases of divorce or single parenthood, parental coresidence with a partner to whom they are married, for whom the adolescent has affective feelings. and with whom the parent has a positive relationship.

- Parental and parent-figure employment, particularly in a high-quality, satisfying job.

-Parental Religiosity.

-Parents, especially mothers, who offer socioemotional support, displays of affection, and appropriate power-sharing; who share similar interests and emotional needs with their child; and who employ cooperative social skills and problem-solving skills.

-Continuously adjusting the parent-child relationship to accommodate adolescents' changing socio-developmental needs (i.e., providing more responsibility, autonomy, and developing a more peer-like parent-child rapport.)

-Authoritative parenting style (warm, communicative, responsive, firm and consistent with discipline).

-Not employing "negative" parenting behavior, such as spanking ,slapping, or yelling at the adolescent.

-Parenting which encourages independent problem-solving and the acquisition of new and challenging social skills.

Family Level

-Parent-child attachment beginning early in the child's life.

-Avoiding parental divorce.

-Minimal family arguments, stress, and general conflict; promotion of love, fun, teamwork, and family cohesion.

-In the case of divorced or separated families, shared child custody, or particular attention to maintaining the child's relationship with the non-custodial parent.

-Particular attention to parent-child relationship if there are young siblings or adult relatives residing with the family.

Neighborhood Level

-Living in neighborhoods perceived to be of good quality; neighborhoods with sufficient educational resources.

Program Level

-Adolescent Social Skills Effectiveness Training (ASSET): A social skills training program aimed at reducing parent-child conflict.

-Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP): A program which conducts separate and joint social skills training sessions over 14 weeks.

-Positive Parenting Project: adolescent education on the responsibilities and sacrifices inherent in parenting. Discussion and perspective-taking on the motivations behind participants' parents' decisions and demands.

-Training of social skills and parent-child communication in programs with unrelated goals (such as suppression of alcohol and tobacco use). Lessons included parent-child partnership in homework completion, and the development of parent-child communication skills.

-Mentoring relationships between the adolescent and an adult outside of the family.


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