Abstract
Background and aimsSocial interactions in preschool and a child's gender are, in cross‐sectional studies, related to the child's overall levels of hyperactive behaviour and engagement in preschool activities. However, whether social interaction and gender can predict children's engagement and hyperactivity is not thoroughly investigated. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal influence of gender, child‐to‐child interaction, and teacher responsiveness on the association between trajectories of children's levels of core engagement and hyperactive behaviour. It was hypothesized that peer‐to‐child interaction and teacher responsiveness in preschool settings are related to positive change in engagement among children with hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys.Sample and methodsSwedish preschool staff completed questionnaires assessing the variables of interest for children aged 1–5 (N = 203). Data were collected on three occasions over a two‐year period. Latent growth curve (LGC) models were used to explore whether teacher responsiveness, peer‐to‐child interaction, and gender predict trajectories of engagement and hyperactivity.ResultsThe results revealed that high levels of hyperactivity were associated with lower levels of engagement on the first occasion. Positive peer‐to‐child interactions and responsive teachers were significant predictors of an increased level of engagement and decreased level of hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys.ConclusionsThe findings underscore the need to improve social interactions, especially peer‐to‐child interactions, to improve engagement in children with hyperactive behaviour, especially boys. Implications for practices and research are discussed.
Highlights
Background and aimsSocial interactions in preschool and a child’s gender are, in cross-sectional studies, related to the child’s overall levels of hyperactive behaviour and engagement in preschool activities
The results from the hypothesis testing are described in the final conditional model, where all the variables are included
The three main findings were as follows: (1) core engagement is negatively associated with hyperactive behaviour, both at T1 and long term, (2) positive peer-to-child interaction is a significant predictor of high core engagement and low hyperactive behaviour at T1
Summary
Background and aimsSocial interactions in preschool and a child’s gender are, in cross-sectional studies, related to the child’s overall levels of hyperactive behaviour and engagement in preschool activities. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal influence of gender, child-to-child interaction, and teacher responsiveness on the association between trajectories of children’s levels of core engagement and hyperactive behaviour. It was hypothesized that peer-to-child interaction and teacher responsiveness in preschool settings are related to positive change in engagement among children with hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys. Latent growth curve (LGC) models were used to explore whether teacher responsiveness, peer-to-child interaction, and gender predict trajectories of engagement and hyperactivity. The results revealed that high levels of hyperactivity were associated with lower levels of engagement on the first occasion. Positive peer-to-child interactions and responsive teachers were significant predictors of an increased level of engagement and decreased level of hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys. The findings underscore the need to improve social interactions, especially peer-to-child interactions, to improve engagement in children with hyperactive behaviour, especially boys.
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