Use of a projective test for the assessment of social competence in children

The validity of outcome scores of the peer subset of the Tasks of Emotional Development test was evaluated as a measure of social competence in children. Social competence was defined as a combination of teacher ratings of peer interactions and coded ratings by peers of how well each subject is liked. Subjects were 46 latency aged children at a local elementary school. Separate data analysis was performed for boys and girls with age and intelligence held constant for all groups. Positive correlations of T.E.D. subset scores would have indicated that the T.E.D. is a valid measure of social competence and thus useful in differentiating those children who would benefit from social skills training. The lack of positive outcomes from this study are discussed in light of the limited distribution of outcome scores amoung the subjects and other threats to the design of this study.