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Social information-processing patterns as predictors of social adaptation and behavior problems among maltreated
1Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, CA 92120, USA.
Objective:
The goal of this investigation was to determine if social information-processing patterns were predictive of later social adaptation and behavior problems within a group of maltreated children in foster care.
Method:
A longitudinal design was used to address the study hypotheses. The sample consisted of 124 maltreated children ages 5 to 10 who had been placed into foster care. Twelve months following entrance into foster care, children were presented with age-relevant hypothetical vignettes to assess the quality of the way in which they process social information. Six to 8 months following this assessment, caregivers completed the Vineland Adaptive Scales and the Child Behavior Checklist.
Results:
Measures reflecting unbiased and competent processing were predictive of social adaptation, whereas measures reflecting biased and incompetent processing were predictive of behavior problems. In aggregate, processing measures accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the outcome measures.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that the manner in which maltreated children process social information has a bearing on their later social adaptation and behavioral adjustment. Therefore, maltreated children in foster care may benefit from interventions that target the manner in which they process social information.