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Dementia family caregivers' assertiveness may play a significant role in the caregiving stress and coping process, but research analyzing this topic is still scarce. This study presents the psychometric properties of the Caregiving Assertiveness Questionnaire (CAQ) and analyzes the associations between assertiveness and other variables with a relevant role in the caregiving coping process. One hundred and forty-seven family dementia caregivers participated in the study. A three-factor structure (expressing discomfort, facing conflicts and setting limits) was found for the CAQ, which explained a 69.63% of the variance in assertiveness. Significant associations were found between scores in CAQ (total scale and subscales) and variables such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion and frequency of leisure. CAQ presents appropriate psychometric characteristics and is a useful assessment tool to take into consideration when designing comprehensive assessment protocols for dementia family caregivers, and designing interventions aimed at helping this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous work (Caballo et al., 2021) we tested the effectiveness of the Multidimensional Intervention for Social Anxiety (MISA) program in reducing social anxiety symptoms. In this quasi-experimental study, with pre/post-treatment and follow-up measures, we examined the impact of the MISA program on other problems related to social anxiety. 57 people diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD), according to DSM-5, were assessed with a diagnostic interview and questionnaires measuring social skills, depression, avoidant personality disorder symptoms, alcoholism, self-esteem, personal sensitivity, worries, and quality of life. Different therapists carried out the treatment in Ecuador, Spain, and Paraguay. The results showed significant improvements at post-treatment in virtually all measures assessing the above variables, improvements that were maintained at six months. Effect sizes on treatment effectiveness ranged from medium to large. The MISA program was also compared with individual cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacological treatment, with favorable results for the MISA program. In conclusion, this new program for the treatment of social anxiety has a significant impact on other problems usually related to SAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines self-esteem and its dimensions using the Revised Janis- Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale (RJFFIS) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in a sample comprising mostly university undergraduates (n= 826). We analyzed their relationship with social anxiety (SA) and social skills (SS), assessed with the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults (SAQ), the Social Skills Questionnaire (CHASO) and the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS). The hepta factorial solution for the RJFFIS explains 59.65% of the common variance and supports a multifactorial concept of self-esteem, including facets that have to do with physical appearance and abilities, social relationships, and academic or work skills. The moderate correlations with the RSES support the convergent validity of the RJFFIS. On the other hand, self-esteem is moderately related to SA and SS. Subjects with high SA show significantly lower self-esteem than those with a low SA and the opposite occurs regarding SS. There are gender differences in terms of self-esteem, with men showing higher scores than women. These results support the multidimensional nature of self-esteem and the need to investigate its role in the areas of both SA and SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present the psychometric properties of the Lifestyle-Related Assertiveness Questionnaire (CACEV) in a sample of patients with metabolic syndrome. The total sample was 136 subjects, of whom 79 completed the study (48 from the treatment group and 31 from the control group), with follow-up at 6 and 18 months. Socio-demographic, anthropometric, physiological and biochemical data of the participants have been included, as well as the CACEV and the Assertiveness Inventory (AI) scores. The results of the exploratory factor analysis of CACEV have revealed a 3-factor structure:Expressing preference for exercise and healthy eating, Saying no to unhealthy food consumption and Saying no to activities that interfere with physical exercise. The internal consistency (α= .925), test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change were adequate. From the psychometric properties found in the CACEV, we can conclude that it is a valid and reliable questionnaire to evaluate lifestyle-related assertiveness in people with metabolic syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment and training of social skills constitutes a continuous hot topic both in clinic and research settings. However, social skills assessment has been since its beginnings a difficult area to address. One ongoing issue is that even today self-report instruments for social skills published in the 1970s are still profusely used. The main objective of this study has been to develop a new questionnaire to assess the main dimensions or response classes included in the construct of social skills. The third version of the Social Skills Questionnaire (CHASO-III), comprising 76 items, was administered to 826 participants from various Spanish regions. The exploratory factor analysis yielded 10 coherent factors with little overlap between them. The best four items from each factor were selected in order to establish the final version of the CHASO. The psychometric properties obtained for this final version, including its internal consistency, its reliability and its validity, were very adequate, thus offering a new and updated social skills self-report instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competences of social interaction are very important for education professionals. In this paper, we propose as main objective to study the effect of a program on social skills training in the formal university context, on the social skills to work in teams learning and on the social anxiety of students. It was also analyzed whether the level of social anxiety affects the success of the training. For this purpose a quasi-experimental research cutting control group, in which 149 students of the degree in social education participated. Pretest-posttest measures were taken through self-exploring basic social skills for learning teamwork, and social anxiety. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the training conducted in university students of social education, and support the relevance of social anxiety control variable in training in social skills, as well as its power to limit the capabilities and skills of social interaction during training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety (SA) is a common experience for many children when faced with social situations. This study presents the application of a play-based school program in social skills training (SST) for children aged between 9 and 12. The experimental group consisted of 87 students from disruptive classrooms. From this group we further analyzed a subgroup of children with high SA (n= 34). A reference group of 25 students, belonging to a non-disruptive classroom from the same school served as a comparison group for the program's social validation. SA was assessed with the "Social Interaction Questionnaire for Children" (SAQ-CIII), giving an overall score of social anxiety and specific ratings in each of six dimensions. Results at post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up showed an improvement in the experimental group and, in particular, the high SA subgroup, with large effect sizes. In addition, this subgroup of high SA decreased their social anxiety at post-intervention to the same level as the reference group in four dimensions of the SAQ-CIII and on the overall social anxiety score of this questionnaire. These results provide initial support for the effectiveness of SST with children for decreasing SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social skills in a team environment is one of the most important variables related to group effectiveness in cooperative learning situations. In this research we have set two objectives: First, building a Questionnaire of Social Skills Learning Teams (CHSEA in Spanish) in a university context and analyzing its psychometric properties. Secondly, we aim to demonstrate how teamwork with cooperative learning techniques influences the social skills in a team. This research involved 1040 students aged 18 to 44 years from a Spanish University. Three factors of the CHSEA were obtained through various factor analysis and structural equation analysis: "Self-assertion skills", "Skills of information reception" and "Skills of information production". We can point out the CHSEA has very acceptable psychometric characteristics, adequate convergent and nomological validity. The latent variables in the three factors found are well defined. The multigroup analysis supports the equivalence of the factorial structure of CHSEA by gender. Finally, we verified that teamwork with cooperative learning techniques influences the social skills of the team and these serve as input to be effective in other cooperative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is aimed to identify different profiles in resilience. In addition, significant differences in social skills domains among profiles previously identified are also analyzed. The Resilience Scale (Wagnild & Young, 1993) and Social Skills Scale (Gismero, 2002) were administered to 116 people with physical disabilities, aged 20 to 45 years (M= 22.25, DT= 4.33). Cluster analyses allowed identifying four different resilience profiles: a group of people with a high resilience profile, a group with low resilience, a group with predominance of high scores in self and life acceptance and, finally, a group of people with high social competence. Results also revealed significant statistical differences in most domains of social skills among profiles. Results suggest the need of broadening the knowledge about knowledge and designing social skills programs for people with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Couple relationships and social skills are closely related. Love components (intimacy, desire and commitment) have nuclear issues in the area of interpersonal relationships. A key aspect in relationships and in the social skills area is Interpersonal Respect, the ability to harmonize personal rights with the other's rights. Respect is related with submissive, dominant, passive-aggressive and fair response styles. This study compared three groups of people (one with a tendency to submission, a second with a tendency to dominance, and a third of balanced people) to check perceptions of couple relationship. The results indicate that submissive and dominant people attach a more negative value to their relationship (and their partners) than balanced people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social skills training involves a set of interventional procedures including behavior modification principles and techniques that lead to the acquisition of basic learning experiences. Its main objective is to facilitate the development of a code of conduct aimed at enabling people to live independently; it has been applied in the treatment of schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders. We review the efficacy of such interventions following meta-analyses and randomized clinical trials, and analyzing advantages and disadvantages of recent developments. We discuss the types of training that have achieved the best results and those contributing to their application and/or adaptation to different areas of daily life as part of the multidimensional and psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study had two objectives: 1) evaluating the effects of an intervention program to develop social skills (communication, empathy, emotional regulation) in behavioral, cognitive and emotional variables; and 2) exploring whether the program affects differentially by gender. The sample comprised 148 adolescents, aged 13-16 years (83 experimental, 65 control). The study used a quasiexperimental repeated measures pretest-posttest design with a control group. Before and after the program four assessment instruments were administered: Social Attitudes and Cognitive Strategies (Moraleda et al. 1998/2004), Empathy Questionnaire (Merhabian & Epstein, 1972), Emotional Quotient Questionnaire (Bar-On & Parker, 2000), and Questionnaire of cognitive strategies of social interaction. The ANCOVAs pretest-posttest confirmed that the program significantly stimulated (p< .05) an increase in: 1) positive social behaviors (social conformity, help-collaboration, self-assurance-firmness), 2) empathy, 3) emotional intelligence (intrapersonal, interpersonal, general mood), and 4) cognitive strategies of social interaction assertive. The discussion focuses on the importance of implementing programs to promote social-emotional development during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a broad definition of the characteristics and incidence of schizophrenia, and introduces the various deficits in social skills and social function faced by patients with this disorder. The role of Social Skills Training (SST), which can be used to improve some of these deficiencies in social skills, social function, cognition and competence, including the history and efficacy of such training, is addressed. An outline is given of the Brief Cognitive-Behavioural SST for schizophrenia patients, designed by our clinical research group (University of Barcelona and General Hospital of Igualada, Spain), along with the parameters of the study, risk factors for certain patients and results. We then indicate future directions focusing on the use of virtual reality as a modern technology to enhance treatment and highlighting potential areas for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to examine changes in the frequency of victimization, aggressive behavior and positive behavior among children after participating in the program "Child Friendly Communities". 302 children between 9 and 15 years of age participated; the children, who at the time of the intervention were completing the fifth and sixth grades of basic education in two public schools with high levels of marginalization, in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (Mexico), were evaluated using Orpinas' (2009) scales of victimization, aggression and positive behaviors. We observed changes in their perception of the violence performed against them and a growing recognition of the aggression exercised by them against peers in those children who prior to the intervention reported not being aggressive or who obtained a low score on levels of aggression. Likewise, children who tend to be aggressors showed a significant decrease in aggression exerted against others, both direct and relational. Results suggest that the program Child Friendly Communities helps to decrease the normalization of violence against children as well as the aggressive behavior against peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social skills are becoming increasingly important for new organizations. This article presents some present-day contexts that require stronger interactive and relational resources from workers. The first is the rapid and unpredictable interactive change in organizations that demand enhanced technical competences and social skills. Likewise, new technologies, the importance of teams and collective decision making have continued to expand and have made the competence and the ability to communicate more necessary and complex. Besides, in current approaches to organizational health and healthy organizations, social skills constitute essential mechanisms. Moreover, the competitive dynamics present in organizations has created a multitude of contexts that can act as risk factors for the health of workers and organizations. In this situation, social skills have served as factors promoting balance and recovery. Finally, new organizations are characterized by their intercultural, global, and virtual nature, which makes it necessary to develop and learn new social skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-reporting of social skills continues to be assessed through the assertiveness inventories developed in the 1970s, such as the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS), the Assertion Inventory (AI), and the College Self- Expression Scale (CSES). The study reported here involved 421 university students (76.5% women) and obtained the factor structures of the aforementioned instruments, plus the new Social Skills Questionnaire (SSQ-I) (Cuestionario de habilidades sociales, CHASO-I). The factorial solutions obtained were 6, 8, 11 and 12 factors, respectively. The reliability (Guttman split-half and Cronbach's alpha) of all the questionnaires was high, and the correlations between the CHASO-I and all the other questionnaires were moderate. The sex differences found involved the total scores of the RAS and the factors "Speaking or performing in public/Interacting with figures in authority", "Interacting with persons I am attracted to", and "Interacting with strangers", with men being more skilled than women, and the factor "Apologizing/Recognizing their own mistakes", with women being more skilled than men. The study concluded by recognizing certain common problems affecting the self-report measures of social skills, as well as certain advantages of the new CHASO-I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at calibrating the Social Performance Schedule Scale Revised (SPSS-R) in a sample of 181 adults with intellectual disability using the Rasch- Andrich Rating Scale Model with the purpose of elucidating its structure, dimensionality, and psychometric properties. In order to obtain a version with a clear factorial structure and coherent with the analysed construct (social skills), it was necessary to proceed with a drastic reduction of the scale. The resulting scale, composed of 24 items, showed the emergence of two distinct dimensions. Its psychometric properties (reliability and validity) turned out to be adequate, and it showed correct items and individuals fit to the Rasch model. According to their difficulty, the items concentrated in the mean zone of the analysed dimensions, which makes it advisable to include, in future studies, items in the high and low range of the latent variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between social skills and social anxiety has been addressed conceptually but studied little empirically. Scarcer still are the studies on the relationship between social skills and personality styles/disorders. This paper uses a sample of mostly university students to find possible relationships between social skills, on the one hand, and social anxiety and personality styles/disorders, on the other. The correlations of the total scores for the instruments of social skills and social anxiety were moderate-to-high and negative; that is, the lower the social skill, the greater the social anxiety, and vice versa. This same level of correlation was also obtained by analyzing the specific dimensions of each construct, which shows that there are shared aspects between social skills and social anxiety. Furthermore, the relationship between social skills and personality disorders varies depending on the specific personality style/disorder. Most correlations are negative, except for histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, and antisocial styles/disorders. These results provide support for a significant part of the interpersonal characteristics of each personality disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the treatment of an 8-year-old boy who fulfilled the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for Asperger disorder (APA, 2000). The boy had poor concentration, disobedience and social skills deficits along with problem behaviors. Training in social skills was used together with a multiple-setting intervention for other contexts (parent training and teacher's cooperation in the school context). The boy's parents used a token economy in the family context and were advised to carry out home-based activities intended to facilitate generalization. After treatment he achieved the planned objectives. His improvements were observed by his teacher and parents and were reflected in test results ("Multifactorial Childhood Adaption Evaluation Test" and "Assertive Behavior Scale for Children"). In addition, there was generalization to other behaviors that were not directly treated, as shown by the disappearance of aggressive behaviors. Therefore, this behavioral intervention demonstrated its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]