Poster #26 - Social Skills, Attitudes Towards School, and the Interplay of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Children

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

Intro: Recent national surveys estimate that 14-33% of children across the United States exhibit elevated internalizing (e.g., sadness, withdrawal) and externalizing (e.g., hyperactivity, aggression) behaviors (Danielson et al., 2021). Furthermore, children with externalizing problems are at increased risk for developing internalizing problems over time (McElroy et al., 2018). Some posit a pattern of cascade effects, in which early patterns of impairment (e.g., social or academic) compromises development of other adaptive skill sets (Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; van Lier et al., 2012). Despite its established links to behavioral and functional outcomes (DeSantis King et al., 2006), few have examined the role of children’s attitudes towards school in this context. The present study sought to expand on previous research by exploring moderating effects of broadscale social skills and attitudes towards school on the relationship between externalizing and internalizing behaviors.

Methods: Children in this study (n = 160, M = 10.32 years, SD = 0.61, 66.9% male, 65.1% African American, 30.8% Latinx) participated in the Resilience Builder Program® (RBP; Alvord, Zucker, & Grados, 2011), a group therapy for children with social impairments. This intervention was adapted for implementation across selected primary schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Students and parents completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) to evaluate behavior and adaptive functioning. Analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2022) in SPSS to assess associations between externalizing problems, social skills, negative attitude towards school, and internalizing problems while controlling for child sex and race/ethnicity.

Results: There was a significant interaction between externalizing behaviors and attitudes towards school, ∆R2 = .04, F(1, 119) = 5.02, p = .027. Simple slopes revealed that the positive relationship between externalizing and internalizing problems was strongest when negative attitudes towards school were low, b= .60, 95% C.I [.25, .95], t(119)= 3.41, p=.001, and this significance diminished as negative attitudes towards school decreased. There was a marginally significant interaction effect of externalizing problems and social skills, ∆R2 = .05, F(1, 121) = 3.68, p = .057. The positive relationship between externalizing and internalizing problems was strongest when social skills were low, b= .56, 95% C.I [.25, .86], t(121)= 3.65, p=.001.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that both social skills and attitudes towards school alter the relationship between externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in children. Specifically, externalizing problems positively predicted internalizing problems only among children who expressed moderate or low negativity towards school. Future research should investigate whether children with strong, negative attitudes towards school attach less significance to their own academic standing, and if that in turn effects their adaptive and behavioral responses to persistent academic failure or underperformance. Finally, there was a positive association between externalizing and internalizing problems among children with average and low, but not high social skills. As suggested in previous research, children with externalizing problems and poor social functioning may be susceptible to peer rejection and future internalizing symptoms (Reinke et al, 2008).

Authors

• Melissa E. Kravets, Catholic University of America
  Presenting Author

• Mary K Alvord, Alvord, Baker & Associates, LLC

• Brendan Rich, Catholic University of America