Association between Receptive Language Skill and Social Communication Skill among Preschool Children: Path Analysis Evidence from Surakarta, Central Java

Abstract

Background: Children with social communica- Results: Good social communication skill was tion problems run the risk of academic failure, directly increased by good receptive language difficulty forming friendships, social exclusion, skill (b= 3.21; 95% CI= 0.50 to 2.07; p= 0.001), and withdrawal. The ability of social communi- first birth order (b= 3.11; 95% CI= 0.45 to 1.99; cation is influenced by several factors including p= 0.002), democratic parenting style (b= 4.94; receptive language skills, parenting patterns, 95% CI= 1.40 to 3.24; p<0.001), and female child birth order, and gender. The purpose of this gender (b= 5.49; 95% CI= 1.41 to 2.98; p <0.001). study was to analyze the relationship between Conclusion: Good social communication skill is receptive language skills and social communi- directly increased by good receptive language cation skills using path analysis. skill, first birth order, democratic parenting style, Subjects and Method: This was a cross sec- and female gender. tional study conducted in Surakarta, Central Java, in January 2020. A sample of 200 children Keywords: Social communication skills, recep- aged 4-6 years was selected using a random tive language skills sampling technique. The dependent variable was the ability of social communication. The indepe- Correspondence: ndent variable was receptive language ability, pa- Nadya Susanti. Masters Program in Public renting, birth order, and gender. Data collection Health. Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami was performed using a questionnaire and analy- 36A, Surakarta, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia, 57126. zed by path analysis using Stata 13. Email: nadyasusanti3@gmail.com. Mobile: 0815- 68222014