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Gender differences in the relational health of youth participating in a social competency program
Author(s) -
Liang Belle,
Tracy Allison,
Kenny Maureen,
Brogan Deirdre
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.20246
Subject(s) - psychology , empowerment , quality (philosophy) , developmental psychology , positive youth development , social relationship , social skills , adolescent health , social psychology , medicine , nursing , political science , philosophy , epistemology , law
This study is designed to explore the effects of previous participation in Open Circle: Social Competency Program (SCP) on the relational health of 153 Caucasian middle school students who reported having recent and consecutive exposure to the program in elementary school. SCP is designed to foster social skills among children that enable them to communicate better, work out conflicts, and build stronger relationships. Our study shows a consistent pattern of evidence that sustained participation in SCP during elementary school encourages the development of quality relationships with peer friends, mentors, and communities among boys as they start into their middle school years. This pattern is not as consistent among girls, who tend to develop relationships of relatively high quality (e.g., those characterized by authenticity, mutual engagement, empowerment, and the ability to deal with differences within the relationship in a way that fosters growth) even in the absence of or minimal participation in SCP. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.