Interpersonal competence, school problems and transition from childhood to adolescence

Abstract

This paper focuses on adolescents who had a previous experience of school failure. Its main purpose was to verify whether children with academic complains but judged by their mother as interpersonally competent would show better achievement and adjustment later, when compared with others of the same clinical population. Forty eight adolescents aged 10 and 15 years participated. On the basis of interpersonal skills indices obtained from the clinic archive records, three groups were formed: Competent; Vulnerable; Reference. At a follow-up one to two years after clinical discharge, children were assessed with the Academic Achievement Test, the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, the Self-Efficacy Schedule, a follow-up interview and the CBCL. In group comparisons, the adolescents that were classified as interpersonally competent in childhood had better academic, self-perception and behavior results. These results suggest that, in face of school adversities, children with better interpersonal resources have more favorable developmental trajectories.