The relation of gender, social competences, selfregulation and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in primary school age children

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos roda, socijalnih kompetencija, samoregulacije te internaliziranih i eksternaliziranih simptoma kod djece osnovnoškolske dobi. Ispitano je postojanje rodnih razlika te potencijalna moderatorska uloga roda u odnosu socijalnih kompetencija i samoregulacije s internaliziranim i eksternaliziranim simptomima kod djece. Istraživanje je provedeno na 320 učenika petih do osmih razreda iz četiri osnovne škole u Osijeku. Za potrebe ovoga istraživanja primijenjeni su Upitnik socijalnih kompetencija – forma za dijete (Spence, 1995), Upitnik samoregulacije (Novak i Clayton, 2001) te Check lista pedijatrijskih simptoma – forma za dijete (Jellinek i sur., 1988). Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na statistički značajne rodne razlike u internaliziranim i eksternaliziranim simptomima te samoregulaciji kod djece, dok u socijalnim kompetencijama nisu utvrđene rodne razlike. Nadalje, utvrđene su povezanosti internaliziranih i eksternaliziranih simptoma sa socijalnim kompetencijama i samoregulacijom. Samoregulacija se pokazala kao glavni prediktor internaliziranih i eksternaliziranih simptoma kod dječaka i djevojčica, dok su socijalne kompetencije direktno predviđale jedino internalizirane simptome kod djevojčica. Također, utvrđena je medijatorska uloga samoregulacije u odnosu socijalnih kompetencija s internaliziranim i eksternaliziranim simptomima kod djece.The aim of current research was to examine the relation between gender, social competences, self-regulation and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in primary school age children. Gender differences and a potential moderating role of gender in the relationship between social competences and self-regulation with internalizing and externalizing symptoms were also examined. The research was conducted on a sample of 320 children, grades five through eight in four primary schools in Osijek. Social competence with peers questionnaire (Spence, 1995), Questionnaire on self-regulation (Novak and Clayton, 2001) and Pediatric Symptom Checklist (Jellinek et al., 1988) were used for the purpose of this research. The results suggest the existence of significant gender differences in internalizing, externalizing symptoms and self-regulation in children, while gender differences in social competences have not been found. Furthermore, the correlations of internalizing and externalizing symptoms with social competences and self-regulation were found. The main effect of self-regulation on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in both genders has been found, while social competences have only directly predicted internalizing symptoms in girls. Also, the mediating role of self-regulation in the relationship between social competences and internalizing and externalizing symptoms was established