Heterogeneous Trajectories of Social Skills Among Chinese Children: Relations With Parenting Styles and Marital Relationships: Relations With Parenting Styles and Marital Relationships

Social skills are critical for the effective functioning of individuals. This study used a longitudinal dataset of 361 Chinese children age 3 to 5 to (1) identify distinct patterns of social skills development using latent class growth analysis (LCGA) and (2) examine how various family factors were related to the identified patterns, including parenting styles (authoritative and authoritarian) and marital relationships. Results indicated three distinct developmental trajectories for children’s social skills: (1) high starting level with slow improvement (high baseline-slow growth), (2) moderate starting level with slow improvement (moderate baseline-slow growth), and (3) low starting level with rapid improvement (low baseline-rapid growth). Higher levels of authoritative parenting, lower levels of authoritarian parenting, and more positive marital relationships were related to an increased probability of belonging to the high baseline-slow growth and moderate baseline-slow growth groups, compared to low baseline-rapid growth group. The findings indicate diverse developmental trajectories of social skills among Chinese children, underscoring the significance of promoting high-quality parent-child interactions to enhance social skills growth. Targeted family support programs, such as parenting workshops and family-marriage counseling, can assist parents in adopting positive parenting practices and cultivating a harmonious family environment, thereby enhancing children’s social skills development.