Social Skills and Subsequent Depressive Symptomatology in Children

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Abstract
We conducted two studies that examined the relationships between measures of social skill and depressive symptomatology in normal children. Into Study 1, we administered the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) to 46 children. We administered the Adult MESSY and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Social Competence scales to parents. One month later, we readministered the CDI, the Child MESSY, and the Adult MESSY. Child and parent ratings of social skill were correlated with concurrent and subsequent levels of depressive symptomatology; however, activity level assessed by the CBCL was unrelated to depressive symptoms. A stepwise regression analysis indicated that measures of social skill, independent of concurrently assessed depressive symptoms, were significantly related to level of depressive symptomatology 1 month later. Study 2 replicated these findings in a population of 24 children. These results provide modest evidence for the generalization to children of Lewinsohn's (1974) social-skills-deficit model of depression.
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