Measurement of two social competence aspects in middle childhood.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 34(1) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2009-22882-001). On page 825, Method section, 4th paragraph, line 2, the sentence incorrectly reads, "The county sample consisted of 423 children (M =8 years 5 months, SD =3 years 3 months), constituting 71% of a randomly selected sample of children born in 1986 and living in a county in the middle of Sweden." The correct standard deviation in age in the county sample is 3 months.] The psychometric properties of a rating measure for parents and teachers for social competence, conceptualized as social skills and behaviors, were studied. The rating measure was constructed from factor analyses on 4 samples of school-age children. Factor analyses identified 2 moderately correlated competence aspects, valid for both sexes and for children from varying socioeconomic backgrounds. The first factor, Prosocial Orientation, captured a style promoting positive social interactions; the second factor, Social Initiative, described initiative as opposed to withdrawal in social situations. Scales based on the 2 factors showed reliability in internal consistency and stability across 1 year, validity in interrater agreement concurrently and across 1 year, correspondence with observed peer behavior, and the capacity to discriminate between children of different peer status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)