The predictive power of 60 – 72 months old childrens's social skills on their problem solving skills

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect on extent 60-72 months old children's social skills on their problem solving skills. The study was carried out according to correlational research design, which is a qualitative research method. Population of the universe consisted of 60-72 months of children in Antalya during 2018-2019 academic year. Participants who were included in the study consisted of 171 children who were 60-72 months old from seven different kindergartens in Antalya. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. The data were collected by Pre-School Social Skills Rating Scale (Teacher Form), Problem Solving Skills Scale, and Demographic Information Form. In the analysis of the collected data, descriptive statistics calculations were conducted in accordance with the research questions. Moreover, simple linear regression analysis, ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis H, Mann Whitney U, Pearson, and Sperman correlation coefficients were calculated. The findings showed that there existed a moderate statistical difference between social skills and problem solving skills. The results showed that children's' social skills were significant predictor of their problem solving skills. It was also revealed that children's' social skills demonstrated statistically significant differences in terms of age and income level. On the other hand, children's social skills did not correlated with gender variable.