Early Peer Interaction: A Research Agenda

Abstract

We propose and discuss several hypotheses concerning the unique developmental status of peer relations in the first three years of life. We then suggest how these developmental differences might translate into hypotheses regarding early individual differences. The integrating questions revolve around whether individual differences in toddler and early preschool peer relations mean the same thing to young children as they do to older children, and whether they carry the same weight and serve the same functions in toddler peer groups as in peer groups among older children. Specifically, we suggest three ways that peer relations in the first three years are fundamentally different from later childhood peer relations: 1) they are likely to be more directly linked to and determined by temperament and attachment relationships; 2) limits in self and other understanding in the early years we likely to constrain both individual interaction skills and the formation of relationships with peers; 3) because emotion regulation in very young children is different from childhood emotion regulation, its role in governing peer relations will likely be different as well. Together, these proposals lead to the conclusion that individual differences in toddler peer relations must carry different meaning than in later childhood. A developmental perspective on individual differences suggests both continuities and discontinuities between toddler peer relations and childhood peer relations, and we offer several predictions.