Children who experience social rejection often lack three skills -- the ability to pick up on nonverbal and social cues, the ability to recognize what those cues mean, and the ability to respond to cues appropriately, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

• Dr. Clark McKown and his colleagues at Rush University Medical Center studied 126 children referred by a psychological clinic and compared them to 158 children who had been chosen randomly from the Chicago school system.
• Many children in the study had difficulty picking up on other children's body language and social cues. For example, they simply did not notice indicators like slumped shoulders and angry faces.
  
• Among those who recognize the cues, many did not know how to respond to these cues or attach meaning to them.

"The number of children who cannot negotiate the steps and who are at risk for social rejection is startling," said Dr. McKown.

Labels: social_skills

Posted By: Aspen/CRC