Children's Peer Interactions Research Articles

Training Graduate Student Clinicians to Use Preschool Peer Interaction Strategies

Abstract Playing with peers is an important part of childhood—what children learn from interacting with one another has enormous impact on both their social and language development. Although many children naturally develop the ability to interact well with peers, some children have difficulty interacting with other children and may miss out on important learning opportunities as a result. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can target the peer interactions of young children on their caseload, assuming that they have the knowledge and skills with which to address them. SLP graduate programs have the opportunity to provide future SLPs with both knowledge and skills-based training. This study assessed a graduate program in which three graduate clinicians participated in a preschool program for children with communication disorders; peer interactions were targeted within the program. The students were observed and data was collected regarding their use of peer interaction facilitation strategies in the group sessions both prior to and after they participated in a direct training program regarding the use of such skills. Outcomes indicate that the direct training program resulted in a statistically significant increase in the students' use of different strategies to facilitate peer interactions among the children in the group.

Changes in children's peer interactions following a natural disaster: How predisaster bullying and victimization rates changed following Hurricane Katrina

AbstractYouth exposed to disasters experience stress and adjustment difficulties, which likely influence their interactions with peers. In this study, we examined changes in bullying and peer victimization in two cohorts of children. Youth from an area affected by Hurricane Katrina were assessed pre‐ and postdisaster (n = 96, mean [M] = 10.9 years old, 53% female), and a comparison group from a nearby area was assessed over the same time interval 1 year prior (n = 120, M = 10.2 years old, 52% female). Within the hurricane group, relations between symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with bullying and victimization also were examined. Following the hurricane, the hurricane group reported increased relational and overt bullying relative to the nonhurricane group, and PTSD symptoms predicted increased victimization. Thus, school personnel should be vigilant and prepared to respond to increased bullying following disasters and for increased victimization in youth experiencing PTSD symptoms. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Developmentally delayed children's influence attempts with mothers predict interactions with peers over time

We examined whether influence attempts of 4–6 year-old children with mild developmental delays occurring when interacting with their mothers predicted children's interactions with peers two years later. Hierarchical regressions controlling for relevant child characteristics and a measure of direct parental actions to influence their children's peer interactions revealed a consistent association between influence attempts with mothers and four important aspects of children's peer relationships: successful social bids to peers, initiations to peers, extent of involvement with peers, and overall level of peer interactions. Results were consistent with social communicative processes likely to emerge during children's influence attempts with mothers, which are relevant to peer relationships. The fact that influence attempts with mothers were associated with peer interactions over a time period when peers occupy a more dominant role in children's social relationships supports the role of indirect family influences as a potential intervention strategy to further the peer competence of children with delays.

The Composition and Sequencing of Communicative Acts to Solve Social Problems: Functionality and Inventiveness in Children's Interactions

A close examination of peer interactions of children between the ages of 5;0 and 7;0 reveal occurrences where children composed and sequenced their communicative acts in intricate ways that were functional as solutions to a suddenly emergent social dilemma. Their acts and act sequences functioned to place constraints on what followed in the interaction, such that they opposed the other's unwanted actions by making the other's cessation of the unwanted actions relevant, and interpretable in a socially positive way. These same acts and act sequences simultaneously steered the interaction away from conflict by not making a conflictful response relevant. Besides their dual functionality, these communicative acts were so tailored to the immediate context and situational dilemma that they have an inventive aspect. These data raise the theoretical question of what basis the children had for composing and sequencing communicative acts in situ that anticipate their interactional consequences and promote desired ones. A proposal is made in the concluding discussion that the basis for this capability is acquisition of “knowledge” of a set of Principles of Relevance in interactions and discourse.

Impact of maternal breast cancer on the peer interactions of children at school

Relatively little research has investigated the impact of parental cancer on developmental outcomes for school-aged children beyond the home. The current study was designed to examine the impact of maternal breast cancer on the social behavior, peer acceptance, and friendships of children and adolescents at school. It was hypothesized that children of women with breast cancer would have fewer friends and be viewed by peers, teachers, and themselves as more socially isolated than comparison classmates. A sample of 60 school-aged children (age 8-16) of women with breast cancer, 58 teachers, and 1138 classmates provided data in classroom settings. Comparisons were made between children in the maternal cancer sample and 60 classmates matched for gender, race, and age. No overall group differences were found on indicators of peer acceptance or friendships at school. Although marked behavioral similarities were found between groups, analyses indicated that sons, but not daughters, of mothers with breast cancer were seen by teachers and peers as more socially sensitive and isolated than comparison peers. Further research is warranted to confirm findings that sons of mothers with breast cancer may experience social isolation and to examine the stability and consequences of this behavioral pattern.

Some benefits of peer–peer interaction: 10-year-old children practising with a communication task

This paper explores peer–peer interactions of children using a spot-the-differences task in an EFL context in Hungary. The children were asked to practise with several sets of similar spot-the-differences tasks and the analysis focuses on the observable changes from the first to the last repetition. After the task performances were recorded, the children were invited to watch their first and last performances and comment on the changes they noticed in an interview. Both the analysis of their dialogues performing the tasks and their reflections clearly indicate that peer–peer interactions with this age group at a very low level of competence can bring various benefits and thus primary language teachers could consider introducing similar communication tasks with children with some confidence.

Interaction between children with cerebral palsy and their peers 1: Organizing and understanding VOCA use

This paper is the first in a series of two that use the principles and practices of Conversation Analysis (CA) in an examination of voice output communication aid (VOCA) use in two conversations, each involving a child with cerebral palsy with complex communication needs who used a VOCA and a peer without complex communication needs. The primary theme of this paper concerns how VOCA use is incorporated into children's peer interactions. A significant feature of each dyad is the way in which naturally speaking partners organized specific locations within the conversation for the production of VOCA-mediated turns. Such practices provide frameworks within which VOCA-mediated contributions can be understood. Issues concerned with asymmetries in children's peer interaction are discussed.

Brief Report: Designing a Playground for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders––Effects on Playful Peer Interactions

This study investigated possible changes in social play and initiations in eight boys (5 to 7-years-old) with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) who were moving from an old to a new school playground that was designed specifically to enhance playful peer interaction. Each boy was observed for half an hour over three occasions in the old, then the new setting. The playgrounds differed in design, spatial density and identity of potential play partners. As hypothesised, frequency of group play and overall social initiations increased significantly in the new setting. We discuss how playgrounds with appropriate levels of physical challenge and support for both structured, imaginative play and solitary observation may support peer interactions in children with ASD.

Paths to child social adjustment: parenting quality and children’s processing of social information

The purpose of this research was to examine the manner in which multiple influences on child social adjustment operated together to predict differential outcomes for young children. Specifically, this study was designed to (i) examine the role of social cognitive and emotional factors in parents' observed and self-reported behaviour towards their children, and (ii) investigate the impact of parenting and children's social information processing (SIP) patterns on children's subsequent social adjustment in the school setting. A model of children's peer social adjustment was evaluated using a group of 166 children, over-sampled for history of physical child abuse. Assessment of constructs was multi-method, including parent and child self-reports as well as teacher reports of child adjustment and observations of parent-child and child-peer interactions. Using structural equation modelling, support was found for our theoretical model. Specifically, parents' negative child-related beliefs and clinical elevations in emotional distress were predictors of harsh, insensitive parenting, which in turn predicted children's SIP operations and social maladjustment 6 months later. However, children's SIP did not significantly predict their social adjustment above and beyond the impact of parenting. Results indicated that the quality of parenting that children received was more central to subsequent adjustment in peer interactions than were children's SIP operations. Furthermore, the quality of parenting children experienced was closely linked to parents' beliefs about their children and parents' mental health status. Directions for future research and potential implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Stability, Change, and Correlates of the Peer Relationships of Young Children With Mild Developmental Delays

The peer relationships of young children with mild developmental (cognitive) delays recruited at 4-6 years of age were examined in a longitudinal study across a 2-year period. Results revealed only modest increases in children's peer interactions, a high degree of intraindividual stability, and the existence of a poorly organized and conflict-prone pattern of peer interactions. Child cognitive and language levels as well as family stress and support were associated with children's peer interactions. A subgroup was identified of initially low interactors who were at especially high risk for future peer interaction problems. These findings further underscore the importance of designing and implementing early intervention programs in the area of peer relationships for children with mild developmental delays.

Impoliteness in children's interactions in a Spanish/English bilingual community of practice

This article examines how participants do impoliteness in children's peer interaction in a second grade, Spanish/English bilingual community of practice in an elementary school in the Southwestern United States. The main goal of this analysis is to investigate whether the impoliteness strategies and verbal resources initially identified by Culpeper (1996) and refined in Culpeper et al. (2003) and Culpeper (2005) are found in a different discourse type, namely the spontaneous talk of a small group of Spanish/English bilingual children. A sequential analysis is employed in order to examine how impoliteness is constructed. This article addresses two central research questions: (1) What impoliteness strategies and verbal resources do participants use? and (2) How do participants respond to impoliteness in interaction? The analysis demonstrates that Culpeper's model of impoliteness, as amended in subsequent publications including an alignment with Spencer-Oatey's (2002) concept of rapport-management, proved useful in classifying the impoliteness strategies used to attack interlocutors' face and sociality rights in a different discourse type. In addition, speakers' responses to impoliteness were found to be crucial to the definition of impoliteness, and a variety of response strategies were employed.

Reticent behavior and experiences in peer interactions in Chinese and Canadian children.

In this study, the authors examined relations between reticent behavior in unfamiliar peer situations and experiences in interactions in Chinese and Canadian children. Observational data were collected from samples of children at 4 years of age in the People's Republic of China and Canada. The results indicated that relations between reticent behavior and peer initiations were similar in the 2 samples. The differences between the samples were mainly in peer responses. Reticent behavior was associated with peer rejection such as overt refusal and disagreement in the Canadian sample but with positive responses such as approval in the Chinese sample, particularly when children made low-power initiations. The results suggest that reticent children in China and Canada may have similar as well as different experiences in social interactions.

Child care and child development: results from the NICHD study of early child care and youth development

Alexander, Foreword. Part I: Overview. Nonmaternal Care and Family Factors in Early Development: An Overview of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Part II: Child Care Use and Quality. Child Care in the First Year of Life. Characteristics of Infant Child Care: Factors Contributing to Positive Caregiving. Booth, Kelly, Child Care Characteristics of Infants with and without Special Needs: Comparisons and Concerns. A New Guide for Evaluating Child Care Quality. Characteristics and Quality of Child Care for Toddlers and Preschoolers. Part III: Why Consider Family Effects in a Study of Child Care? Familial Factors Associated with the Characteristics of Nonmaternal Care of Infants. Before Head Start: Income and Ethnicity, Family Characteristics, Child Care Experiences, and Child Development. Dearing, McCartney, Taylor, Change in Family Income-to-Needs Matters More for Children with Less. Chronicity of Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Maternal Sensitivity, and Child Functioning at 36 Months. The Interaction of Child Care and Family Risk in Relation to Child Development at 24 and 36 Months. Part IV: Child Care and Health. Child Care and Common Communicable Illnesses. Child Care and Common Communicable Illnesses in Children Ages 37-54 Months. Part V: Child Care and Mother-child Relations. The Effects of Infant Child Care on Infant-Mother Attachment Security. Child Care and Family Predictors of Preschool Attachment and Stability from Infancy. Owen, Ware, Barfoot, Caregiver-Mother Partnership Behavior and the Quality of Caregiver-Child and Mother-Child Interactions. Child Care and Mother-Child Interaction in the First 3 Years of Life. Early Child Care and Mother-Child Interaction from 36 Months through First Grade. Part VI: Child Care and Psychological Development. Early Child Care and Self-Control, Compliance, and Problem Behavior at 24 and 36 Months. Early Child Care and Children's Peer Interaction at 24 and 36 Months. Does Amount of Time Spent in Child Care Predict Socioemotional Adjustment during the Transition to Kindergarten? The Relation of Child Care to Cognitive and Language Development. Does Quality of Child Care Affect Child Outcomes at Age 41/2? NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, Child Outcomes When Child Care Center Classes Meet Recommended Standards for Quality. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, Child Care Structure --> Process --> Outcome: Direct and Indirect Effects of Child Care Quality on Young Children's Development. Early Child Care and Children's Development Prior to School Entry. Part VII: Effects of Families on the Development of Children Who Are in Child Care. Factors Associated with Fathers' Caregiving Activities and Sensitivity with Young Children. Relations between Family Predictors and Child Outcomes: Are They Weaker for Children with Child Care? Families Matter - Even for Kids in Child Care. Part VIII: Commentary. Contributions of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, Ramey, Human Developmental Science Serving Children and Families.

Social Communication Interventions for Preschoolers: Targeting Peer Interactions during Peer Group Entry and Cooperative Play

Some preschoolers with language impairment approach and manage peer interactions less effectively than typically developing peers. This article discusses assessment and intervention strategies for targeting preschoolers' social communication skills during peer entry and cooperative play situations. Essential features of effective interventions include identification of appropriate social communication targets, addressing and facilitating children's use of these targets during small group sessions with peers, and supporting generalization of newly acquired social communication behaviors to children's peer interactions within the classroom setting.

Child–parent and child–peer interaction: Observational similarities and differences at age seven

AbstractAccording to Russell et al. (Developmental Rev 1998; 18: 313) child–parent interaction could contain horizontal qualities, similar to child–peer interactions. To study this, child–parent and child–peer play interactions were compared on several observed horizontal and vertical characteristics in 55 7‐year‐old children interacting with their mother, father, and a classmate, respectively. Characteristics on which the interactions were compared were shared positive emotions, total control behaviour, balance of control, simultaneous play, mutual responsiveness, and discord. Significant differences between observed child–parent and child–peer interactions were found. Horizontal as well as vertical qualities were found in both types of interaction. The child–parent interaction consisted primarily of mutual responsiveness (i.e. a horizontal quality), and total control, whereas in the child–peer interaction balance of control, shared positive emotions, simultaneous play, and discords were most often found. No main effect of peer preference or gender was found. However, several interaction effects of context with gender and peer preference were found. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Video recording as interaction: participant observation of children's everyday life

This article investigates methodological and analytical implications of video-based techniques for conducting participant observations with children (6–8 years of age). Video-based data are used to illustrate arguments concerning how children use different interaction strategies while being observed with a video camera. It is also argued that visual recordings constitute a source of knowledge in their own right. Hence, a strong claim is made concerning the importance of researchers reflecting upon recording procedures. The article also offers a discussion of some methodological issues that play a crucial role in video recording young children's peer interactions. The article emphasizes the need to attend to and reflect on all components of the research process, including procedures for data collection and visual analysis, as well as how the visual material is reproduced in the written text.

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5

The Influence of Peer Relationships and Maternal Socialization on Kindergartners' Developing Emotion Knowledge

We examined the influence of children's peer relationships and maternal emotional socialization on children's development of emotion knowledge. Children's emotion knowledge was assessed at the beginning (time 1) and end (time 2) of their first semester of kindergarten. Children's peer interactions were measured through observations and teacher ratings. Mothers' beliefs about teaching emotion language and emotional expressive styles were assessed through questionnaires. Children with more stable friendships demonstrated greater increases in emotion label knowledge between time 1 and 2. More popular children had greater increases in emotion script knowledge between time 1 and 2, as did children whose mothers believed in teaching emotion language. Results have implications for future research regarding parents' and teachers' beliefs about socializing children's emotional development.

The Social Validity of Interventions for Promoting Preschool Children's Peer Interactions

AbstractThis analogue study investigated the social validity of classroom interventions designed to promote peer interactions in young children. The influences of child characteristics and diagnostic labels on social validity ratings were examined, as were the relationships among three components of social validity. Forty-two preschool teachers completed a 15-item social validity scale that yielded scores pertaining to intervention goals, procedures and effects. Participants rated three types of intervention, which varied according to individuals targeted and intensity of programming procedures, with reference to one of three case descriptions of children with social interaction problems. Half the participants were provided with the child's diagnostic label. Results indicated that social validity is affected by interactions between intervention methods and child characteristics. The inclusion of diagnostic labels in the case descriptions had no effect on social validity ratings. Strong positive relationships were found among the components of social validity. Implications for the use of empirically validated interventions in inclusive preschools are discussed.

Learning in the Social Environment: Cameos From Two Children's Experience of Starting Childcare

SUMMARYThis paper presents case study data about what two under three-year-old children learnt on entry into the social environment of their first childcare centre. The data are part of a qualitative study of starting childcare, carried out in 5 different childcare centres in New Zealand. This study xplored this event from the perspective of mothers, teachers and children. The analysis in this paper is based on fieldnotes and video records of the children s experiences gathered during the children s orientation visits to their childcare centre, and for six weeks after they started attending without a home adult. The paper argues that children's peer interactions were a powerful mechanism through which the new children learnt about life in the childcare centre. This included learning about rules of interaction in the group setting, rules about physical aggression and learning how to take one s place in the existing peer group. In addition, there was evidence that the social context of the childcare centre was implicated in the children s learning about the physical elements of the centre environment. The early childhood teacher s role in this learning is also discussed.