Social competence, social support, and attachment: demarcation of construct domains, measurement, and paths of influence for preschool children attending Head Start.

Two studies designed to (1) explore measurement issues for the construct domains of social competence and social support and (2) test a model relating social competence to social support and to child-parent attachment for low-income (primarily African American) preschool children attending Head Start are reported. In Study 1, the definition, measurement, and structure of the social competence construct are evaluated in 2 samples of children. For Study 1A, 167 4-year-old children were assessed with a battery of observation, interview, and Q-sort measures. Relations among the measures suggested a hierarchical structure that was tested using a structural equation model. Results from the analysis supported the conjecture that social competence should be viewed as a hierarchically organized construct. In Study 1B, the model was tested again for a group of 3- and 4-year-old children (n = 265), using a modified set of measures. The general structure of the model from Study 1A was reproduced in this independent sample, although paths from the second-order factor to lower-order factors were not perfectly coordinated across samples. In Study 2, data for a subset of the children in Study 1B (n = 182), gathered with respect to features of their social networks, were examined to assess the structure of their social support networks. Descriptive and structural equation analyses are reported. Sixty-nine of these children were observed at home with their mothers and described using the Waters Attachment Q-sort. A structural equation model testing relations consistent with causal pathways from attachment security to both social support networks and to social competence and from the social support network variable to social competence with peers fit these data with a high degree of confidence. Subsequent analyses locating social competence as antecedent to attachment security were not significant. We conclude that the construct domains of social competence and social support networks can be meaningfully measured for preschool children and that individual differences with respect to these construct domains are related to child-parent relationship qualities.

Effects of preshot routine on free-throw shooting.

The effect of prohibiting the use of a preshot routine on free-throw shooting in competitive situations was investigated. 25 male high school basketball players were instructed to attempt 50 free throws alternating in blocks of 10 between the use of their preshot routine and shooting without it. To make the situation competitive, subjects were run in groups of five and their performance was recorded on a large easel placed to the side of the free-throw line. A significantly larger number of baskets were made in the preshot routine condition than without the routine. A competitive situation led to a greater decrement in baskets than had been reported in 1986 by Lobmeyer and Wassermen during noncompetitive free-throw shooting.