Contributions of Rasch Model to Social Skills Intervention Procedures

Abstract This study aimed to examine whether the Rasch model can facilitate the learning of socially skilled behavior in children. Two studies, one to establish cut points and levels of difficulty in measuring social skills and another to analyze the intervention based on this hierarchy, were performed. The Study 1 results indicate that the easiest behaviors are related to civility and Altruism, and the hardest related to assertiveness. In Study 2, the intervention results planned based on the level of difficulty of the items indicated the improving in social skills of children in the same direction as the items level of difficulty. In general, Rasch model was effective as an aid to assess the difficulty of social skills measures and to help planning and implementing interventions within this area.