title: Social competence in children with chronic illness: a meta-analytic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To conduct a meta-analysis of social competence in children with a chronic illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  The meta-analysis included 57 studies comparing levels of social competence in children with chronic illness to those of children without chronic illness. A random effects model was used to calculate overall effect, subgroup, and meta-regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the meta-analysis calculated 90 unique outcomes, producing a summary standardized mean difference of d = -0.44, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.52 to -0.36 indicating a medium overall effect for decrease social competence. Chronic illness, measure, and informant moderated social competence outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impact of chronic illness on youth varied by individual child factors (e.g., gender, chronic illness type) and by measurement features such as informant and measure type. The current study demonstrates a need for further research of the assessment of social competence and has implications for the development of social skills programs for children with chronic illness.
authors: Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Martinez
authors: Jocelyn Smith
authors: JS
authors: Carter
authors: Lauren Jennifer
authors: LJ
authors: Legato
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception