Peer influences in self-regulation development and interventions in early childhood

Abstract

ABSTRACTSelf-regulation facilitates healthy development and positive adaptation across the life course, and deficits are linked to negative health outcomes. Self-regulation development is thus an important target for universal prevention interventions in early childhood. A well-established research base addresses the significance of caregiver relationships and environmental supports in self-regulation development during early childhood. However, the potential influence of peers has received less attention. Emerging evidence suggests a relationship between self-regulation skills and peer interactions; yet, these processes have been underexplored in the context of early childhood interventions, and the critical question of whether early childhood social environments could be engineered to maximize self-regulation development has been unaddressed. This paper presents empirical evidence and conceptual arguments for peer influences in self-regulation development in early childhood and reviews existing self-regulation interventions with an emphasis on a potential role for peer processes. Implications for future research and universal prevention programmes and policies are discussed.