Social Competence Among Children with Central Nervous System-Related Chronic Health Conditions: A Review

Reviewed empirical studies of social competence among childrenwith central nervous system (CNS)-related chronic health conditionspublished since 1975. The overwhelming majority of studies evaluatedsocial competence at the level of social adjustment; the domainsof children's social pegorrnance and social skills were relativelyneglected (Cavell, 1990). Findings are critiqued with respectto conceptualization of social competence among children withCNS conditions and methodological considerations. Directionsfor future research include expanding the conceptualizationof social competence in this population to include social demandsand competencies specifc to children with CNS conditions andutilizing explicit theoretical frameworks that allow for competinghypotheses to be tested.