IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i8p3950-d532883.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effectiveness of Group vs. Individual Therapy to Decrease Peer Problems and Increase Prosociality in Children

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Melero

    (Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Alexandra Morales

    (Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • José P. Espada

    (Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Xavier Méndez

    (Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain)

  • Mireia Orgilés

    (Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

Abstract

Emotional difficulties in children are often shown to be associated with peer problems and low prosocial behaviors. Super Skills for Life (SSL) is a transdiagnostic protocol for the prevention of emotional problems in children and has also obtained improvements of other comorbid symptoms. This study aimed at comparing the effects of SSL in reducing peer problems and increasing prosocial behaviors in children aged 8 to 12 years between the group and the individual modalities. For this purpose, 140 children (35% girls) received the program, 70 in group format and 70 in individual format, and were evaluated at the baseline, posttest, and after one year. Both modalities were effective in enhancing social relationships in children, although the individual modality showed more promising results. Children belonging to the individual modality group presented fewer peer problems (less social isolation and rejection, greater social acceptance, more friends) and greater prosocial behaviors (helping, empathy, kindness, and sharing) compared to children receiving the therapy in group modality, both in the short and in the long term. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of SSL protocol efficacy for improving children’s peer relationships and prosocial behaviors and encourages the implementation of transdiagnostic interventions in both clinical and educational settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Melero & Alexandra Morales & José P. Espada & Xavier Méndez & Mireia Orgilés, 2021. "Effectiveness of Group vs. Individual Therapy to Decrease Peer Problems and Increase Prosociality in Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:3950-:d:532883
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3950/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3950/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kogut, Tehila, 2012. "Knowing what I should, doing what I want: From selfishness to inequity aversion in young children’s sharing behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 226-236.
    2. Mireia Orgilés & Silvia Melero & Iván Fernández-Martínez & José Pedro Espada & Alexandra Morales, 2020. "Effectiveness of Video-Feedback with Cognitive Preparation in Improving Social Performance and Anxiety through Super Skills for Life Programme Implemented in a School Setting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-13, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Larney, Andrea & Rotella, Amanda & Barclay, Pat, 2019. "Stake size effects in ultimatum game and dictator game offers: A meta-analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 61-72.
    2. repec:cup:judgdm:v:12:y:2017:i:3:p:208-223 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kishwen Kanna Yoga Ratnam & Nik Daliana Nik Farid & Nur Asyikin Yakub & Maznah Dahlui, 2022. "The Effectiveness of the Super Skills for Life (SSL) Programme in Promoting Mental Wellbeing among Institutionalised Adolescents in Malaysia: An Interventional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Jennings, Amanda Brooke, 2019. "I’ll share with her, but not with you: A mixed methods approach to investigating children’s naïve theories about resource allocation decisions," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Patricia Grocke & Federico Rossano & Michael Tomasello, 2019. "Preschoolers consider (absent) others when choosing a distribution procedure," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Choshen-Hillel, Shoham & Lin, Zhenni & Shaw, Alex, 2020. "Children weigh equity and efficiency in making allocation decisions: Evidence from the US, Israel, and China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 702-714.
    7. Alex Shaw & Shoham Choshen-Hillel, 2017. "It’s not fair: Folk intuitions about disadvantageous and advantageous inequity aversion," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 12(3), pages 208-223, May.
    8. Evans, Anthony M. & Athenstaedt, Ursula & Krueger, Joachim I., 2013. "The development of trust and altruism during childhood," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 82-95.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:3950-:d:532883. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.