Examining Social Competence Behaviors of Children Attending Preschool Education Institutions

The aim of this study is to determine social competence behaviors of children attending preschool education institutions in 2017-2018 academic year. In this study, descriptive survey model was used. The sample consists of 521 children determined by stratified sampling method. In this study, Social Competence and Behavior Assessment-30 Scale was used to determine the social competence behaviors of children. In data analysis, descriptive statistics and differential statistics were used. As a result of study, it was concluded that children often exhibit social competence behaviors, and hardly exhibit anxiety-introversion and anger-aggression behaviors. The social competence scores of girls are higher than boys; the social competence behaviors of the children increase as the level of parental education increases; as the number of siblings increase, children's anxiety-introverted behaviors increase; but children's social competence, anxiety-introverted and anger-aggression behaviors do not differ significantly according to age and family’s income level. It is suggested that teachers identify children who exhibit frequent problem behaviors and conduct more activities to affect the social development of children