Date of Award:

5-2013

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Mark S. Innocenti

Committee

Mark S. Innocenti

Committee

Donna Gilbertson

Committee

Andrew Samaha

Abstract

Research related to the importance of social skills in children shows that they are important to children's development and performance in school. Research on problem behaviors in children, such as bullying, have been shown to be related to negative outcomes later in life for children such as lower performance in school, and juvenile and adult criminal behavior. What parents believe and how they act on those beliefs have been found to be related to fewer problem behaviors, and to higher social skills in children. However, the research we have has focused on the parenting behaviors and social outcomes in children using only people from the Anglo-American population. Little is known about how the beliefs and behaviors of parents influence the development of social skills in children in Hispanic families.

Using the HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment), the Parental Modernity Scale, and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale (BAS), measures of the relation and predictive ability of parenting behaviors, beliefs and acculturation to social skills in children as measured by the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) are calculated. Findings suggest that the progressive subscale scores from the Parental Modernity scale and the Family Companionship subscale from the HOME are predictive of higher scores on the SSRS socials skills scale in Prekindergarten Hispanic children. Acculturation was not related to higher social skills scores or fewer problem behaviors in children. The results are discussed in light of previous research and existing knowledge on what the results mean for the parenting behaviors and beliefs of Hispanics.

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This work made publicly available electronically on February 15, 2013.

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