Family functiniong, cognitive development and emotional development as functions of social problem solving skills in early childhood:The Structural Equation Model

The aim of the study is to determine the relationships among family functioning of 48-66 month children coming from different socio-cultures and low-income families based on social problem solving, their executive functions (memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition) and language skills based on cognitive development dimension, perceptual, cognitive and affective perspective taking as a component of empathy based on emotional development dimension through using a structural equation model, and to examine this model (ABDS model) in terms of age, attachment, social reference and sense of self. The research model was a relational screening model. As functions of family functioning, cognitive and emotional development during early childhood, the social problem solving skills were tested using the structural equation model in the study. The study population consisted of 48-66 month old children attending preschools at Seyhan,Çukurova, Yüreğir and Sarıçam central districts in Adana city. With the aim of obtaining the desired sample, three different sampling methods were applied: the purposive homogenous sampling method, which is one of the random sampling methods, the purposive sampling method and the purposive stratified sampling methods, respectively. By making use of the purposive homogenous sampling method which is one of the random sampling method, the neighborhoods which received the most financial support and which included preschools, were categorized in accordance with the information given by Seyhan, Çukurova, Yüreğir, Sarıçam District Governorships, Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations. Within this category, the number of the participating children, their neighborhoods and preschools were determined through using the appropriate sampling method and considering the connection and time conditions. Lastly, using the purposive stratified sampling method, these 48-66 month old children were grouped into three age categories equally: 48-54, 54-60 and 60-66 month old.The number of the total participant children was 156, 52 of whom belong to each age group: 48-54 month old (27 girl; 25 boy), 54-60 month old (26 girl; 26 boy) and 60-66 month old (27 girl; 25 boy). The parents of the children were also included in the study process. In the study, the Wally Social Problem Solving Test was used to measure the children's social problem solving skills; the Working Memory Instrument/The Map Task (for forward and back memories), the Camel-Dwarf Game (for inhibition) and the Tower of London (for cognitive flexibility) were used to measure executive functioning on the basis of cognitive development dimension; the Mean Length of Utterance for language skills; Three Mountains Task (in perceptual perspective taking) for empathy, Change in Location Test and the Unexpected Contents Task (in cognitive perspective taking) and the Emotional Perspective Taking Test based on emotional development, the Attachment Styles Story Completion Test for determining the attachment styles which served as moderators,the Social Reference Test for social anchoring and the Cassidy Puppet Interview Form for measuring the sense of self. Additionally, the participant parents were interviewed and asked to complete the Personal Information Form and the Family Assessment Device in order to measure family functioning. The study data was collected by the researcher between 30 April 2015 and 15 January 2016. The data included 458 sessions in which the researchers met each of the 156 children three times on different days. The study data was analyzed with AMOS and SPSS packet programs in parallel with the study's general hypothesis and sub-hypothesis. The data encoded to SPSS for each child was tested in AMOS 22 through using the structural equation model and ABDS model (family functioning, cognitive development, emotional development, social problem solving) developed on the basis of related literature. Following the test of the first model, the quality of fit was checked, and it was understood that the data set did not fit well with the tested model.In accordance with the findings, the first ABDS model was modified. And after the modifications, a goodness of fit was ensured between the tested model and the data set. In the modified ABDS model, the family functioning explained 98% of the changes in children's emotional developments, and the effects of cognitive development on their social problem solving skills. In the modified ABDS model, children's family functioning not only directly affected their social problem solving skills, but also indirectly influenced their emotional and cognitive development levels. The model was analyzed in terms of age, attachment style, social anchoring and sense of self, respectively. It was found that for all the moderator variables, the data set had a goodness of fit with the tested model at an acceptable rate. The findings suggested that children's cognitive and emotional development levels partially played a meditative role in the effects of family functioning on children's social problem solving skills. The study findings were discussed within the integrated form of Social Information Processing Model with emotional processes, and within the frame of Sociocultural Historical Theory. Key Words: Social problem solving skills, family functioning, cognitive development, emotional development, early childhood, structural equation model.