Social information processing patterns, social skills, and school readiness in preschool children

The links among social information processing, social competence, and school readiness were examined in this short-term longitudinal study with a sample of 198 preschool children. Data on social information processing were obtained via child interview, data on child social competence were obtained via teacher report, and data on school readiness were obtained via child assessment (early literacy skills) and teacher report (approaches to learning). Findings provided support for our hypothesis that both social information processing and social competence are related to school readiness. Social competence also partially mediated the link between social information processing and school readiness, thereby supporting our hypothesis about an indirect path in which mental processes are translated into social skills and then translated into school readiness. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.