Features in social competence of middle school students: Assessment based on teacher, parent, and adolescent self-reports

Introduction. This article addresses the problem of informant-specificity of gender and age differences in social competence of adolescents at the middle school stage. The aim of the article is to identify gender and age differences in the social competence of 5th–7th grade students based on teacher, parent, and adolescent self-report data. Materials and Methods. The methodological framework comprised a multi-informant approach to assessing social competence and a sociometric evaluation of the adolescent’s position within the peer group. The study involved 356 students in grades 5–7 (171 girls, 185 boys), 138 parents, and homeroom teachers. The Social Skills Rating Scale, a sociometric procedure, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in adolescent and parent versions were used; inter-informant agreement was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results. The article reveals the informant-specific nature of gender differences in social competence among 5th–7th grade students: according to teacher ratings, girls outperform boys on all social skills subscales, while boys score higher on externalizing problem behavior and sociometric rejection; adolescent self-reports indicate girls’ superiority on emotional symptoms; no significant differences were found in parent ratings. The authors note a nonlinear age-related trajectory of social competence, with a peak in problem behavior and sociometric rejection in grade 5 and an increase in gender differences according to teacher ratings by grade 7. It is emphasized that inter-informant agreement is generally weak to moderate, with the highest agreement on the emotional symptom’s subscale. Conclusions. It is concluded that gender and age differences in social competence among 5th–7th grade students are informant-specific in nature, and that the age trajectory of social competence is nonlinear, with a peak in problem behavior and sociometric rejection specifically in grade 5.