Social Adjustment, Social Performance, and Social Skills: A Tri-Component Model of Social Competence

Analyzes social competence, an often used yet elusive concept. Although complex, it need not be incomprehensible or unwieldy. Child and adolescent clients often engage in maladaptive social behavior in order to meet their emerging needs. A tri-component model, viewing social competence as a multilevel construct made up of social adjustment, social performance, and social skills, can be a useful heuristic for clinicians and researchers seeking to modify, predict, or explain children's social functioning. The implications for assessing social competence in this way are discussed.