Temperament and social behaviour at home and school among typically developing children and children with an intellectually disability.
School setting, not disability status, shapes social competence and antisocial behavior in kids with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched kids at home and at school. Half had intellectual disability. Half were typically developing.
They scored social skills and antisocial acts. They also rated each child’s temperament.
All kids lived in the same city. Some went to regular schools. Others went to special schools.
What they found
Kids in regular schools showed stronger social skills. They also showed fewer antisocial acts.
This gap was the same for both groups—with or without ID.
Temperament scores hardly differed across groups or schools.
How this fits with other research
Heiman (2001) asked teens with mild ID how they felt. Students in special schools said they were lonelier and more depressed. Lancioni et al. (2006) now show the same setting link for younger kids, but through observer eyes instead of self-report.
Poppes et al. (2010) looked at toddlers. Parents rated kids with ID as shyer and more impulsive. The new study finds almost no temperament gap at school age. Age and rater matter: parents see early fuss, observers see later calm.
Dickson et al. (2005) found more antisocial reports from teens with ID until they factored in poverty and mental health. Lancioni et al. (2006) echo the warning: blame the setting, not the label.
Why it matters
If you write an IEP, question the placement first. A regular room may boost social growth more than a social-skills goal in a separate room. Push for inclusion or at least daily mainstream contact. Track peer bids and problem acts before and after the move to show the team real data.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There has been limited research on differences in temperament between typically developing children and children with an intellectual disability (ID). Individual differences have generally been neglected in previous investigations of children with an ID. The present research investigated differences in temperament and social behaviour between typically developing children and children with an ID, in both home and school settings. METHODS: Participants were 100 children (M = 10.7 years, SD = 0.88) from both regular and special education schools. Temperament was measured using the Emotionality, Activity, Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Children (parental and teacher ratings), while social behaviour was measured using the School Social Behaviour Scales, Second Edition (SSBS-2) and the Home and Community Social Behaviour Scales (HCSBS). RESULTS: There were minimal significant differences in temperament between the regular and special education groups. Children who attended regular schools had a significantly higher level of social competence and significantly lower level of antisocial behaviour both at home and school, when compared with children who attended special schools. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in social behaviour between children attending regular and special schools was attributed to the difference in intellectual ability of the two groups, as well as contextual influences of regular or special school environments.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2006 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2006.00790.x