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Abstract
Intended to enhance social skills instruction in Turkey, the present study highlights the process and outcome of creating a Turkish-language version of the School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS), originally developed by Merrell (1993). The social skills of the Turkish pre-and elementary school students were based on the Likert scale. The analyses of the data obtained from 467 students and their teachers were carried out on the linguistic equivalency, item-total and item-remainder analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, criterion validity, and reliability analyses of the Turkish conversion of the SSBS. The results of the analyses of linguistic equivalency reflected significance for each item of p<.001. A level of significance of p<.001 was found by means of the item-total, item-remainder, and discrimination analyses. Reliability values ranging between r=.91 and r=.98 were obtained by the Cronbach coefficient alpha, Spearman Brown, and Guttman Split-Half techniques. These reliability coefficients display a similarity with those for the original version. The data obtained by means of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) and sociometric technique were evaluated and found to bear statistical significance (p < .05). Based on the findings, it may be stated that the Turkish conversion of the SSBS may be used with Turkish samples and that it is a valid and reliable measurement tool.
Key Words
Social Skills, Social Competence, Antisocial Behavior.
Educators, teachers, and parents in today's societies are in constant pursuit of ways to help children achieve academic and social success and, by the same token, they seek to discover and eliminate the causes of failure. The goal of these efforts is to ensure adjustment to the rapid changes occurring both in the society and in the field of science. The process of adjustment on the part of children to their environment commences on their first day of school. Various studies have shown that this is the moment children discover the existence of others as an outcome of initiating interpersonal communication. Furthermore, studies have shown that children whose relationships with their classmates are poor tend to perform at a lower level of academic achievement as well as exhibit discontentment within the family circle (Brodeski, 2007; Butcher, 1999; Lewis, Sugai, & Colvin, 1998).
By contrast, children whose levels of social skills are high represent individuals...