Abstract
The normative transition to formal schooling confronts children with social challenges but also opportunities. Longitudinal research on how school entry impacts children’s family and friend-ship relationships is scarce. This study investigated social relationship qualities with parents, siblings, and friends among 1110 children (49.9% female) from the prospective, population-based Bavarian Longitudinal Study at 6 years (before school entry) and 8 years using a forced-choice card-sorting task. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed significant effects of age (i.e., school entry) on social relationship qualities with mothers (Pillai’s Trace (PT) = 0.28, F(9, 1101) = 47.73, p < 0.001), fathers (PT = 0.14, F(9, 1101) = 19.47, p < 0.001), siblings (PT = 0.27, F(9, 1101) = 46.14, p < 0.001), and friends (PT = 0.21, F(9, 1101) = 32.57, p < 0.001). On average, children reported higher levels of parental comfort after school entry. Companionable qualities increased in relationships with friends, whereas sibling relationships became more conflictual from preschool to early school age. Findings provide unique insights into how social relationships develop from preschool to early school age, supporting evidence of the growing importance of friends. Conflict was predominant and increasing in sibling relationships and should be considered more in future research.
Highlights
IntroductionParents, siblings, and friends are important close social relationships in children’s lives [1]
In middle childhood, parents, siblings, and friends are important close social relationships in children’s lives [1]
Our current findings show that sibling relationships became less comforting after children had entered school, which adds to evidence of decreases in support found from early school age to early adolescence [26,43]
Summary
Parents, siblings, and friends are important close social relationships in children’s lives [1] Experiences with these relationships substantially shape children’s development and adjustment, including mental health, behavior, academic outcomes, and social functioning [2,3,4,5,6]. These different social relationships serve a variety of critical functions by fulfilling children’s social needs, for example, for caregiving, love, companionship, and support [7,8]. Longitudinal research on how school entry impacts children’s family and friendship relationships is scarce Focusing on this normative transition will provide new insights into the changing roles of parents, siblings, and friends in fulfilling certain social needs
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