The relationship between social interest and coping resources in children.

Previous research using adult subjects suggests that social interest affects an individual's coping resources. The purpose of this research was to examine empirically the relationship of social interest and coping skills in young children. Data collected from 127 elementary students were used to test a structural equation model that examined the relationship between children's social interest and their coping resources. The empirical data supported the hypothesized theoretical model. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

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Today, children, just as adults, experience higher levels of stress than ever before. Negative life events such as community and school violence, domestic terrorism, poverty, divorce, poor parenting skills, and school problems such as academic difficulties or friendship problems are a reality for many children. These stressful life events can cause emotional and psychological problems. Furthermore, children have little control over their environments and therefore may not be able to actively prevent or seek alleviation from stress. Still, some children, regardless of stressful life experiences, show high levels of resilience. That is, they seem to show a tremendous ability to actively handle life's demands.

Kern, Gfroerer, Summers, Curlette, and Matheny (1996) found that social interest and belonging were related to adults' perceived coping resources. Because this study indicated that adults' coping resources for stress were linked to feelings of belonging, we felt it was important to examine children's level of social interest in relation to their perceptions about stress coping. It is logical that feeling connected to others and having a sense of social support would buffer feelings of stress.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social interest and coping resources children utilize. Practical ways for school counselors, parents, and teachers to increase a child's social interest in order to help build a child's repertoire of coping resources for stress are discussed.

EFFECTS OF STRESS ON CHILDREN

Studies consistently indicate that children with increased psychological stress are significantly more likely to be ill, to need hospital treatment, and to use health services than children with lower levels of stress (Sandberg et al., 2000). Several studies have shown that adverse life events and other types of stresses "significantly increase a person's susceptibility to acute and recurring upper respiratory tract infections such as asthma, and other viral infections" (p. 982). Stress compromises the body's immunology responses thereby increasing the risk of somatic diseases, especially those that result from the weakening of the body's natural defense mechanisms (Sandberg et al.).

The most severe stressful life events are often unpredictable and unavoidable and involve loss such as parental separation, death of a parent or other close person, or a close friend moving away. Other stressful life circumstances include poverty; poor housing; family, community and national violence; parental physical infirmity; parental psychiatric illness; parental alcohol dependence; family discord; and school problems such as academic hardship or friendship problems (Sandherg et al., 2000).

The Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics (Behrman, Kliegman, & Arvin, 1996) describes the wide range of responses children of different ages may have to stress.

   Infants and toddlers tend to react to stressful
   situations with impairment of physiological
   functions, such as disturbances of feeding and
   sleep, with relatively global expressions of
   anger or fear, as in temper tantrums, or with
   withdrawal and avoidance behavior. School-aged
   children demonstrate their difficulties
   through altered interpersonal relationships
   with peers and family members, through
   impairment of school performance, by the
   development of specific psychological syndromes,
   such as phobias or psychosomatic disorders,
   or by "regressing" to earlier, more
   "childish" modes of functioning. (p. 76)

Pitzer (1988) suggested possible signs of stress are "bedwetting, complaints of a pounding heart, stomach upset, queasiness, decline in school achievement, demand for constant perfection, downgrading of self, extreme worry, irritability, lying, nightmares, overeating, poor sleep or eating habits, teeth grinding, difficulty in getting along with friends, and withdrawal from social activities." Curlette, Aycock, Matheny, Pugh, and Taylor (1990) summarized the considerable physical, psychological, and behavioral problems caused by stress, explaining that stress is "best viewed as the inequality between perceived demands and perceived resources" (p. 1). If the demands are perceived to exceed an individual's coping resources for stress, the body reacts by gearing up for an emergency.

COPING RESOURCES AS MODERATORS TO STRESS

Stress researchers argue that it is not the environmental demands that determine the individual's stress level, but the individual's perception of his or her ability to cope (Hobfoll, 1988). Most researchers now agree that only if an individual's coping resources are perceived as inadequate by the person would environmental demands actually become stressful (Kern et al., 1996). In other words, difficult life events and situations will only become stressful if the individual perceives that he or she does not have the coping resources available with which to handle the stress. In addition, researchers have also suggested that personality types or traits interact with one's coping resources (Kern et al.). The same may be true for children. Carson and Swanson (1992) suggested children's coping styles, approach, and their families' approach to stressful events are more critical to the adjustment to stress than the stressful events themselves.

While there is a plethora of literature on the impact of stress in adults there is less written about the effects of stress on children and about the coping resources children use to handle this stress.

Coping resources are believed to help lessen the negative effects of stress (Curlette et al., 1990). Coping resources are factors that are in place prior to the occurrence of the stressor. These factors can be drawn upon to cope, thereby lessening the cost and making the individual more resistant to stress (Matheny, Aycock, Curlette, & Junker, 1993). There is a wide range of coping resources useful to individuals in combating stress. For example, problem-solving, cognitive restructuring, physical exercise, and social support are all resources that are believed to lessen the demands of stress. It is the individual's perception of his or her ability to use such resources to cope that can lead to a general resistance to stress (Curlette et al.)

SOCIAL INTEREST

Adler believed that it was essential for individuals to possess an active approach to confronting problems and the demands of life and that social interest was critical for such an approach (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). The Adlerian Psychology construct of social interest is uniquely related to the topic of children's stress, yet there is little written about the rote that social interest plays in alleviating and or moderating stress in children.

"'Social interest' is at the heart of Adlerian psychology and is widely considered the central concept of Adlerian theory" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher as cited in Daugherty, Murphy, & Paugh, 2001, p. 465). Manaster and Corsini (1982) stated that Alfred Adler believed that mental health, or one's "personal success in life" (p. 13), was a function of one's social interest.

Other related definitions of social interest include understanding, empathizing with, and acting on behalf of others (O'Connell, 1965), sharing, helping, cooperating, and taking responsibility (Kaplan, 1986), and the capacity for transcending the limits of self (Crandall, 1981).

Social interest is thought to be the key factor in a healthy, functional personality (Dreikurs & Soltz, 1964). Adler believed that social interest was the cornerstone of mental health (Rareshide & Kern, 1991). In adult populations, a lack of social interest has been found to correlate with certain pathologies.

Social interest has been negatively correlated with depression (Johnston, 1988); the Schizophrenia, Psychopathic Deviate, and Social Introversion scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Johnston); potential for child abuse (Wheeler, Braswell, & Milner, 1990), and an external locus of control (Wheeler & White, 1989). In a study using criminal offenders, Daugherty et al. (2001) found that offenders with low social interest, as compared with those with higher social interest, "were more likely to be unemployed, to have new felony arrests, or to be re-incarcerated" at the time of a 20-27 month follow up (p. 469).

There also appears to be a relationship between coping and social interest. Crandall (1984) found that social interest was related to personal adjustment and that it reduced the effects of stress on psychological symptoms and even provided some immunity to the effects of stress. Leak and Williams (1989) found that "social interest encourages an active approach to life's problems" (p. 374).

While the construct of social interest and its usefulness in adult populations is found often in the literature, it is not found in the literature regarding youth populations. Instead the term belonging, which is an indication of individual's social interest (Dinkmeyer, Dinkmeyer & Sperry, 1987), is commonly cited in the literature concerning children and adolescents.

In children and adolescent populations, belonging has been associated with being liked, accepted, and respected by other students and teachers; students' expectations of academic success; students' intrinsic interest in schoolwork and grades; and teacher ratings of student effort (Goodenow, 1991). Crandall (1981) states that students who feel a sense of belonging have an enhanced sense of worth and self-confidence.

School connectedness, or belonging, plays a critical role in the success or failure of today's middle and high school student (Mouton & Hawkins, 1996). Beck and Malley (1998) report that "most children fail in school not because they lack the necessary cognitive skills, but because they feel detached, alienated, and isolated from others and from the educational process" (p. 133). They go on to say that currently, there is unprecedented alienation and apathy among our youth. Furthermore, Sonnenblick (1997) stated that students who do not feel a sense of belonging at school are at risk for gang involvement and dropping out of school.

Resnick et al. (1997) stated that a feeling of connection to school is the best predictor of adolescent well-being. Mulvey and Cauffman (2001) reported that "students who are committed to school, feel that they belong, and trust the administration are less likely to commit violent acts than those who are uninvolved, alienated, or distrustful" (p. 800). From this evidence, it appears that children with social interest, or a strong sense of belonging, cope better with stress than children with lower levels of social interest.

Blom, Cheney, and Shoddy (as cited in Honig, 1986) noted that stress-resistant children who possessed effective coping skills had a variety of behavioral characteristics. "Behaviors such as empathy, understanding the points of view of others, helping others, good verbal skills, good attentional processes, reflectiveness, problem solving, inner locus of control, frustration tolerance, and success appear possible to teach." (p. 51). Social interest is manifested in these behavioral characteristics. Social interest is not an inborn trait; it is rather a trait that must be consciously developed (Adler as cited by Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).

Former studies and definitions of social interest and coping resources appear to demonstrate that social interest and coping resources are directly related. Kern et al. (1996) used the Coping Resources Inventory for Stress (CRIS; Curlette et al., 1990) and the Basis Adlerian scales for Interpersonal Success--Adult Form (BASIS-A; Kern, Wheeler, & Curlette, 1997) to demonstrate that social interest correlated positively with coping resources in adult populations. Evidence suggests that social interest moderates an individual's coping resources. The purpose of this research was to empirically examine the relationship of social interest and coping resources in young children.

METHOD

Participants

A total of 129 third-grade students from an elementary school in northwest Georgia participated in this study. They were all administered the Basic Adaptive Styles in Schools-Childhood (BASIS-C) Inventory (Curlette et al., 1997) and the Coping Resources Inventory Scales for Educational Enhancement (CRISEE; Curlette et al., 1999). The majority of the participants were Caucasian, and the mean age was 7 years old. These students were chosen because they were participating in a classroom guidance lesson on social interest taught by the school counselor.

Procedures

A parental permission to participate was distributed to every third-grade student. A short introduction and explanation of the study was presented to each third-grade class. Participants were told that all information would be confidential and scoring would be based on subject numbers rather than participant's name. The school counselor administered the BASIS-C and the CRISEE to each student who was granted permission to participate.

Instrumentation

Two instruments were administered to participants. The CRISEE (Curlette et al., 1999) measured the coping resources in the student's life. The Belonging-Social Interest scale of the BASIS-C (Curlette et al., 1997) measured the personality construct of the degree to which a student feels a sense of belonging.

The CRISEE consists of 99 true/false items that are answered by the student and a 40-item stress symptoms checklist that is completed by the teacher of the student. Five coping resources scores are calculated: Academic Confidence (AC), Social Confidence (SC), Family Support (FS), Peer Acceptance (PA), and Behavior Control (BC). These resources for helping a student to cope were gleaned from an extensive review of the literature and were confirmed in factor analysis of the items on the inventory (Curlette et al., 1997). Scores ranged from 0 to 100 with high scores indicating greater amounts of resources and are desirable.

Following are brief descriptors of the CRISEE scales. These descriptions are for the higher scores on each of the scales. Academic Confidence is a measure of a student's confidence in their ability to do well in school, to manage time well, get his or her work done on time, and to do quality work. Social Confidence measures how freely students disclose feelings and opinions, are assertive in negotiating for the meeting of their needs, relate comfortably with peers, and behave independently of others when appropriate. Family Support is a measure of how students' report their families as being supportive, accepting, and helpful. High scores on the Peer Acceptance scale would indicate that other students like the student, accept them, and treat them well. Students who score high on Behavior Control are generally cooperative and seldom create problems in schools or their communities.

The BASIS-C Inventory (Basic Adaptive Styles in Schools-Childhood; Curlette et al., 1997) is an instrument designed to measure a child's lifestyle themes from an Adlerian perspective. The Belonging-Social Interest scale of this instrument was used to measure belonging. This scale contains 9 items. Each of the items on the BASIS-C Inventory begins with the phrase "When I was a child before the age of 6, I...." The purpose of the BASIS-C Inventory is to help identify interpersonal styles based on overall perceptions of childhood experiences, rather than the specific events that may be remembered and may or may not have happened in actuality (Curlette et al.). Again, only the 9 items from the BASIS-C designed to measure a child's level of Belonging and Social Interest were used in this study. No other lifestyle variables were examined.

The Belonging-Social Interest scale of this instrument isolates characteristics reflective of a child who feels a sense of belonging. If a child generally tends to feel as if he or she belongs in a group, it is likely that the child will be cooperative, extroverted, and interpersonally skilled.

Model Conceptualization and Analysis

A one-step procedure structural equation model (SEM) was used to simultaneously model the latent variable, Coping Resources, and the structural model. We hypothesized that the observed variable Social Interest will have a positive relationship with the latent variable Coping Resources. The scales on the CRISEE, Academic Confidence, Social Confidence, Family Support, Peer Acceptance, and Behavior Control are the observed variables that estimated the latent variable of Coping Resources. The theoretical model being tested is illustrated in Figure 1.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The overall fit of the model was assessed by comparing the estimated sample variance-covariance matrix, S, with the predicted variance-covariance matrix, [SIGMA], derived from the model and its parameter estimates. The closer [SIGMA] is to S, the better the fit of the model. Several indices were used to evaluate model fit: (a) [chi square] (b) Goodness-of-Fit (GFI), and (c) Adjusted GFI (AGFI), and RMSEA. Before the model was tested, the researchers determined that there would be correlated errors between the observed variables within the Coping Resource latent trait; however, the initial model would not include these correlated errors.

RESULTS

A total of 129 participants completed all the instruments and were included in the analysis. The means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum scores on the observed variables are reported in Table 1. PRELIS 2.30 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1999) was used to screen all the data and calculate the variance-covariance matrix that was used for testing data model fit. LISREL 8.30 (Joreskog & Sorbom) estimated the model parameters and fit indexes.

The correlation matrix for the observed variables is reported in Table 2. All correlation coefficients were statistically significant at the .01 level of significance and ranged from .21 to .57. The bivariate correlation coefficients between Social Interest and the scales on the CRISEE were small, ranging from .28 to .33.

Structural Model

All parameter estimates were calculated using the covariance matrix. The final model is depicted in Figure 2. The [chi square] (9, N = 132) = 4.79, p = .85, suggested that the theoretical model fit the data. Estimation of the standardized path coefficients for the model supports the hypothesized relationship. All the path coefficients between the observed variables and the latent variable were positive and statistically significant at the .01 level, ranging from .55 to .78. The path coefficient (.78) between the observed variable Belonging-Social Interest and the latent variable Coping Resources was positive and statistically significant at the 0.01 level. This suggests that Belonging-Social Interest has a direct effect on coping resources. The coefficient of determination for the structural equation was 0.22 indicating a moderate degree of explanation for the relationship tested.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

DISCUSSION

This study empirically demonstrated that there exists a relationship between a child's social interest and their perceived coping resources. Many believe that it is not the stressful life event itself which determines stress, but an individual's perception of their ability to cope with that stress. This is actually good news because parents and school counselors cannot prevent the many stressful life events that occur in childhood and youth, but they can enhance their level of social interest. We suggest that by increasing their social interest, which can be done through a variety of deliberate activities and experiences, children and youth can enhance their ability to cope with the demands of life. School counselors, because of their consultation with parents, teachers, and administrators and because of their direct delivery of services to students, are in an excellent position to encourage children's and youth's social interest and, thus, build their resistance to the negative effects of stress.

There is a reciprocal relationship between social interest and belonging. That is, a child who possesses a high level of social interest also feels a sense of belonging and vice versa. Encouraging a child's social interest and sense of belonging can be done in the family and at school in a number of ways. Using Linda Albert's (1991) 3 Cs of belonging is an excellent way to view social interest enhancement. The first C is connect. It is important that parents and teachers provide opportunities for children and youth to connect with the important adults in their lives, siblings, and the peers around them. Beck and Malley (1998) stated that students must first develop an attachment with the teacher before they can feel a sense of belonging with the school community. Wehlage and Rutter (cited in Kagan, 1990) stated that at-risk students report that they consistently and frequently believe that their teachers do not care about them. Interestingly, students who have low social interest often resist or sabotage efforts of caring individuals to connect with them. Teachers and other adults must learn ways to recognize and change this rejection-promoting behavior and maintain an attitude of care and interest in the student. This student-teacher relationship has become increasingly important as more students come from single-parent homes and homes where parents work long hours.

The first step in teaching empathy is getting kids connected to other individuals. Before a student can understand another's point of view or unique perspective, he or she must first interact with others and understand how they are similar and different. It has been our experience that by first helping students discover how they are alike, accepting differences comes more easily. Cooperative learning groups, classroom meetings, and family meetings are excellent forums for each child to serve a function and work together with others to solve common problems. Through small counseling groups and classroom guidance, school counselors can make it a priority to find ways to help students connect with each other.

Connection is made easier in smaller schools. Garbarino (1999) stated that when marginal students-those who may be at risk for dropping out due to family background, personal characteristics, or school history--participate in school activities, they begin to feel a sense of belonging and as though they are as needed as those who are not marginal. Once this happens, they are less likely to drop out and engage in delinquent behavior. Unfortunately, there appears to be no effort in today's schools to decrease enrollment, therefore effort should be made on making schools feel smaller. Schools within schools or organizing classrooms into families are two ways to do this.

The second C is capable. It is vital that adults find ways in which children are capable and then highlight these areas. At rimes, young children can be made to feel incapable by the "helpfulness" of adults around them. Frank Walton (1999) wrote, "Never, on a routine basis, do for a child what they can do for themselves." Allowing children and youth to do the things they are capable of doing teaches them they are and can be successful. Allowing children and youth to experience the natural and logical consequences of their actions, rather than rescuing them or saving them from some unpleasantness, demonstrates that you believe they are capable of making decisions for themselves and learning from the choices they make.

Contribute, the third C, is finding opportunities for children and youth to help others. A helpful reminder is to allow children and youth to do the things that adults regularly do but often do not let them participate in because the adult can typically do the task more quietly, more quickly, and with less mess. For young children, caring for an animal and taking part in household responsibilities is an excel lent way to begin a lifelong habit of contributing. By participating, children can quickly learn that being a part of a family or classroom requires give and take. Tutoring peers or younger children is also an excellent way to encourage contribution.

Another way to directly enhance one's social interest by contributing is to get involved in a volunteer effort. This can be done in an organized way such as participating in the national Youth Service Day (www.ysa.org). This can also be done by volunteering individually to serve in a shelter soup kitchen; engaging in a recycling or stream restoration effort; collecting toys, clothes, and other needed items; and visiting or writing letters to seniors in a retirement home or patients in hospital. Research has shown that the most effective service programs have classroom reflection and discussion as a requirement (Kinsley, 1993; Markus, 1993; O'Keefe, 1997). This means there is adequate time and priority given to discussing the activity, its benefits and costs, and personal learning. Again, classroom meetings and family meetings are excellent venues for this reflection and discussion.

For young children, it is especially important that parents and other adults model this attitude of volunteering as children will begin to see that it is simply something one does--a requirement of living. The more opportunities for helping others and the world, the more able students are to enhance their social interest and derive the resiliency benefits from it.

Research has indicated that teachers with high social interest may have students who are more cooperative, less disruptive, and less impatient than teachers with low social interest (Edwards & Kern, 1995). Perhaps because of their ability to model the characteristics of social interest or because they encourage social interest, their students display characteristics of social interest. It also behooves the school counselor to find ways to encourage social interest in teachers and parents so they will be more likely to actively encourage social interest in children and youth. Edwards (1995) has suggested several ways to do this using the same 3 Cs. School counselors should find every opportunity to encourage parents and look for ways to highlight their connection with others, their capabilities, and their contribution to the human race.

It is interesting to note that the study by Kern et al. (1996) which found a positive correlation between social interest and coping resources demonstrated that a person's perception regarding belonging as a child is related to present adult functioning in terms of coping resources. In other words, an adult's perception of his or her belonging as a child is related to the adult's current coping resources. It is, therefore, important to study the impact of social interest on children's stress, their coping resources, and their possession of social interest not only to alleviate the effect of stress on children but possibly also to moderate the effect of stress on that child when they become an adult. "Good parenting (e.g., helping a child to belong and encouraging a child and stimulating his or her social interest) provides a measure of protection of the child's physical well-being as the child grows into adulthood" (Kern et al., p. 52).

Limitations

The model is a plausible model but there are many other models that could fit the data. For example, in any model merely switching the direction of association between the two variables will not change the fit or the parameter estimates. In other words, it is plausible that a student's coping resources are having the effect on the student's ability to cope.

Nonnormality leads to moderate to severe underestimation of standard errors of parameter estimates. The test of parameter estimates will not be trustworthy under conditions of nonnormality.

Further Research

While this article empirically studied the relationship between social interest and coping resources in children and adds to the literature regarding children, there are further questions to be asked. For example, is the research on the psychological benefits of social interest in adult populations the same for children and youth? Can an individual's social interest be increased? Can we empirically show that by involving students in social interest activities that their level of social interest improves? Which social interest activities encourage the most amount of social interest? We believe that social interest in children and youth is an important field of study and documenting how social interest can buffer the physical and psychological effects of stress and finding ways to encourage social interest is an extremely worthy investigation.

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviation, Minimum Score, and Maximum
Score for All Observed Variables

Observed Variable              Means    SD       Min    Max

Academic Confidence            75.02    19.25    15     100
Social Confidence              57.55    26.64     0     100
Family Support                 83.78    17.83    21     100
Peer Acceptance                77.27    21.82     0     100
Behavior Control               79.63    20.54     7     100
Belonging--Social Interest      4.06     0.56     2       5

Table 2. Correlation Matrix of the Observed Variables

Observed Variables        AC     SC     FS    PA    BC

Academic Confidence
Social Confidence         .41
Family Support            .47    .37
Peer Acceptance           .54    .49    .57
Behavior Control          .32    .37    .43   .38
Social Interest           .28    .32    .33   .31   .27

Note. All correlation coefficients were statistically
significant at the .01 level.

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Dana Edwards, Ph.D., is an assistant professor, Counseling and Psychology, and Kelly Gfroerer is a doctoral candidate. Both are with Georgia State University, Atlanta. E-mail: [e-mail]

Claudia Flowers, Ph.D., is an associate professor, Department of Teaching Specialties, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Yancey Whitaker is a school counselor at Teasley Elementary School Cobb County, GA.