Children's Peer Research Articles

Examining links between affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and peer relationships at the transition to school

AbstractThe current study aimed to (i) examine associations across features of affective and cognitive empathy, and (ii) explore their independent role for children's peer relationships at the transition to school. Affective empathy was measured using both observations of children's facial affect during an empathy‐eliciting event and dispositional affective empathy to peer distress via teacher report. Cognitive empathy was measured using an index of children's proclivity to engage in perspective taking when witnessing the distress of another. Children's theory of mind was also assessed given close links with cognitive empathy. Participants were 114 Australian children (Mage = 67 months, SD = 5 months) assessed across two sessions during their first year of formal schooling. Findings showed that features of children's affective and cognitive empathy were unrelated, but both showed independent associations with children's positive peer relationships (assessed via peer‐reported social preference and teacher‐rated peer social maturity). The current study provides support for the delineation between features of affective and cognitive empathy in early school‐age children, and the importance of understanding both affective and cognitive empathy for children's peer relationships at the transition to school. These findings have implications how we understand both the nature of empathy in childhood and the role it plays in supporting children's positive peer relationships.

Peer experiences in the preschool classroom: Contribution to children's academic development

The present study examined the relations between two aspects of peer experiences in preschool classrooms and children's math and literacy development during kindergarten transition. Based on the theoretical framework of classroom ecology model, peer experiences were represented by classroom social network and teachers' grouping preferences. The outcomes included standardized math and literacy assessments collected from three time-points, fall of preschool, spring of preschool and fall of kindergarten. The analytical sample included 367 children recruited from 47 preschool classrooms located in two large school districts. Children completed peer-nomination tasks to characterize the classroom social network and teachers completed questionnaires to describe their grouping preferences. We conducted a multilevel longitudinal model to estimate the effects of classroom-level predictors on the trajectories of skill growth. We found that indices of classroom social network – density and centralization – were significantly associated with math and literacy development: more dense classrooms positively predicted math and literacy development whereas more centralized classrooms negatively predicted math and literacy development. Teachers' attention to children's skill levels in creating grouping structure was positively associated with math and literacy development. These findings indicate that young children's peer experiences are potentially important indicators of classroom quality, as they are associated with children's academic development over the course of preschool year into kindergarten transition.

The Effect of Emotion Regulation on Pupils’ Peer Relationships

Peer relationships are one of the irreplaceable interpersonal relationships in the development of children's socialisation. What happens in children's peer interactions affects the development and functioning of other aspects of children's lives, such as family, school and community. The competence to deal with emotions, especially the skills to manage emotions like anger and control impulses, is an essential social competence for children and is important for peer interaction and social adjustment. This study aims to explore how primary school students' emotion management skills influence their peer relationships, to provide a scientific basis for intervention in problems that arise in primary school students' peer interactions (e.g. aggressive behaviour, school bullying, etc.), to try to control and reduce the frequency of these problems, to lay the foundation for developing and exercising students' future abilities to enter society, and to provide a reference for subsequent mental health education work by schools, teachers and parents. According to the study results, it is argued that young people who have a correct knowledge of the rules of emotional expression and a higher understanding of their own and others' emotions are less likely to be rejected by their peers and are more popular in larger peer network interactions. Children's access to effective emotion regulation strategies positively predicted and positively influenced their peer relationships.

Family Chaos, Interparental Conflict, and Preschooler Adjustment: Comparing Mediation and Moderation Models

Children residing in chaotic homes exhibit greater behavior and adjustment problems. Proximal factors, such as interparental conflict, may play a role, although the ways in which these factors interplay in predicting adjustment problems is unclear. We explored different models for how chaos and conflict work together to predict child adjustment. We hypothesized that chaos would both moderate and mediate the relationship between interparental conflict and preschooler adjustment and that there would be a stronger pattern of associations for fathers than mothers. A community sample of 70 families with preschoolers participated in the current study. Parents engaged in a conflict resolution task during which their child was present. Interparental conflict was coded assessing for specific positive and negative conflict expressions, intensity of emotional expressions, and degree of resolution. Conflict codes were sorted into three categories: positive, angry, and depressive conflict. Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) assessing child adjustment and the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) assessing levels of chaos and disruption in the home. Path analyses revealed evidence for mediation in the father: fathers’ angry conflict was significantly predictive of greater chaos, which was in turn predictive of greater child peer problems. No evidence of mediation was found for mothers. Chaos also moderated associations between conflict and child adjustment for both mothers and fathers, such that dimensions of conflict were significantly associated with child adjustment in high chaos, but not low chaos homes. Clinical implications are discussed.

Childhood and parental characteristics of adults with DSM-5 intermittent explosive disorder compared with healthy and psychiatric controls

BackgroundIntermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is a disorder primarily of aggression, defined by recurrent behavioral outbursts out of proportion to provocations or stressors. IED first appears in childhood and adolescence. This study examines the underlying childhood environment of those with IED, particularly familial and school-related factors. MethodsAdult participants from a larger study completed diagnostic assessments and a battery of self-report measures. Group assignment was based on the assessment: 1) IED diagnosis; 2) non-IED psychiatric diagnosis; and 3) no significant psychiatric history. Groups were compared on factors of parental demographics, intrafamilial aggression, lifetime syndromal and personality diagnoses, neurodevelopmental and learning difficulties, childhood peer relationships, and juvenile legal issues. ResultsSignificant patterns emerged specific to IED for not being raised by both parents, greater physical aggression to participant, and greater degree of fighting with peers by age ten. LimitationsThe retrospective, and cross-sectional, nature of the study, which prevent the making of causal inferences, and the basic nature of the questions asked of participants which limit a more nuanced interpretation of the data. A further limitation is bias associated with self-reported responses. ConclusionsResults suggest the prevalence childhood adversaries may be linked with IED; the childhood environment of those with IED likely is substantially more tumultuous than individuals with or without other psychiatric disorders.

Associations between epigenetic aging and childhood peer victimization, depression, and suicidal ideation in adolescence and adulthood: A study of two population-based samples.

Background: Prior studies indicate that peer victimization (including bullying) is associated with higher risk for depression and suicidal ideation across the life course. However, molecular mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear. This two-cohort study proposes to test whether epigenetic aging and pace of aging, as well as a DNA methylation marker of responsive to glucocorticoids, are associated to childhood peer victimization and later depressive symptoms, or suicidal ideation. Methods: Cohort 1: Epigenome-wide DNA methylation (EPIC array) was measured in saliva collected when participants were 10.47years (standard deviation = 0.35) in a subsample of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD, n = 149 participants), with self-reported peer victimization at 6-8years, depressive symptoms (mean symptoms, and dichotomized top 30% symptoms) and suicidal ideation at 15-17years. Cohort 2: Epigenome-wide DNA methylation (EPIC array) was measured in blood collected from participants aged 45.13years (standard deviation = 0.37) in a subsample of the 1958 British Birth cohort (1958BBC, n = 238 participants) with information on mother-reported peer victimization at 7-11years, self-reported depressive symptoms at 50years, and suicidal ideation at 45years. Five epigenetic indices were derived: three indicators of epigenetic aging [Horvath's pan-tissue (Horvath1), Horvath's Skin-and-Blood (Horvath2), Pediatric-Buccal-Epigenetic age (PedBE)], pace of aging (DunedinPACE), and stress response reactivity (Epistress). Results: Peer victimization was not associated with the epigenetic indices in either cohort. In the QLSCD, higher PedBE epigenetic aging and a slower pace of aging as measured by DunedinPACE predicted higher depressive symptoms scores. In contrast, neither the Horvath1, or Horvath2 epigenetic age estimates, nor the Epistress score were associated with depressive symptoms in either cohort, and none of the epigenetic indices predicted suicidal ideation. Conclusion: The findings are consistent with epigenome-wide and candidate gene studies suggesting that these epigenetic indices did not relate to peer victimization, challenging the hypothesis that cumulative epigenetic aging indices could translate vulnerability to depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation following peer victimization. Since some indices of epigenetic aging and pace of aging signaled higher risk for depressive symptoms, future studies should pursue this investigation to further evaluate the robustness and generalization of these preliminary findings.

The Role of Autonomic System Coordination in Relations Between Peer Factors and Aggressive Behavior in Early Childhood.

This study tested biological sensitivity to context theory in the peer context. Respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA-R) and skin conductance level (SCL-R) reactivity to a peer stressor were collected for participants (N = 86; M age = 45.99months old; 70.2% White) in the summer (Time 1). Children's peer risk (i.e., physical and relational victimization) and protective (i.e., received prosocial behavior) factors were examined in the fall (T2) and relational and physical aggression were measured at T2 and in the spring (T3). Interactions were tested in regression analyses. Interactions emerged between relational victimization, RSA-R, and SCL-R in the prediction of T3 relational aggression and between received prosocial behavior, RSA-R, and SCL-R in the prediction of T3 relational and physical aggression, respectively. There was a positive relation between T2 relational victimization and T3 relational aggression for children with a coactivation pattern (i.e., increased RSA and SCL activity to a bullying stressor) but no relation for any other physiological pattern. Conversely, there was a negative relation between T2 received prosocial behavior and both forms of aggression at T3 for children with a reciprocal pattern (i.e., increased RSA and decreased SCL or decreased RSA and increased SCL activity) but no protective benefit of received prosocial behavior on subsequent aggression for children with a coactivation pattern. For children with a coinhibition pattern (i.e., decreased RSA and SCL activity), received prosocial behavior was negatively related to subsequent physical but not relational aggression. In sum, a coactivation pattern in response to stress may represent a vulnerability factor.

Examining individual children's peer engagement in pre-kindergarten classrooms: Relations with classroom-level teacher-child interaction quality

This cross-sectional study examines associations between PreK classroom-level teacher-child interaction quality and individual children's peer engagement quantity and quality. The study utilizes a sample of 714 children from 214 classrooms collected as part of the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education Professional Development (NCRECE) study. Multilevel regression models using a bifactor analytic approach to measuring teacher-child interaction quality (resulting in three unique and uncorrelated factors) indicate that in classrooms with higher levels of responsive teaching practices, individual children exhibit greater peer sociability and assertiveness, but not communication. In classrooms with higher levels of cognitive facilitation, individual children display higher peer engagement across all measured dimensions (Sociability, Assertiveness, Communication), and greater observed potential for peer communication, operationalized as children's highest observed peer engagement score. Finally, in classrooms with more effective management and routines, individual children display lower peer sociability and assertiveness, but not communication. Implications are suggested for supporting children's peer engagement within early childhood classrooms.

How "peer-fear" of others' evaluations can regulate young children's cooperation.

Children's cooperation with peers undergoes substantial developmental changes between 3 and 10 years of age. Here we stipulate that young children's initial fearfulness of peers' behaviour develops into older children's fearfulness of peers' evaluations of their own behaviour. Cooperation may constitute an adaptive environment in which the expressions of fear and self-conscious emotions regulate the quality of children's peer relationships.

The Double Mediating Effects of Self-Esteem and Peer Attachment on the Influence of Marital Conflicts on Children’s Happiness: Focusing on the 4th~5th Grade of Elementary School

The purpose of this study is to examine the double mediating effect of self-esteem and peer attachment in elementary school students in the effect of marital conflict on the happiness of elementary school students. For this purpose, a double-mediated analysis was conducted using PROCESS macro version 4.1 (Model 6) on the data of 1,392 elementary school children in grades 4-5 and their guardians who participated in the 11th year of the Panel Study on Korean Children. As a result of the analysis, first, marital conflict was significant as a negative correlation with peer attachment, self-esteem and happiness of elementary school students, and peer attachment and self-esteem were significant as a positive correlation with happiness. Second, in the relationship between marital conflict and happiness, self-esteem and peer attachment showed a sequential double mediating effect. It was found that, even if marital conflict is severe, children's peer attachment and self-esteem are very important variables.

Marital satisfaction and parental warmth in predicting children's peer social competence

This study tested longitudinal dyadic interdependence in parental marital satisfaction, parental warmth, and children's peer social competence using a nationally representative sample of South Korean children (N = 2107; 49.2% girls). The first seven waves of data collected annually from the birth of a child were used where parents (mothers: M = 31.31 years, SD = 3.72; fathers: M = 33.84, SD = 4.03 at W1) reported marital satisfaction and parental warmth and preschool teachers (M = 29.70 years, SD = 6.92, 99.3% females at W5) rated children's peer social competence. Children's peer social competence was positively predictive of paternal warmth and vice versa, whereas it was not predictive of maternal warmth, which in turn negatively predicted children's subsequent peer social competence. Findings highlight positive family-to-school spillover and the intertwined interdependence between parents and between parents and children.

Guidance Collaborative Study for Children with special needs

<p class="abstrak"><span>This study aims to describe the form of collaboration between parents and counselor in learning services for children with special needs. This research is a case study on children with special needs with ADHD and Autism. The resource persons in this study were parents, counselor and peers of children with special needs. Qualitative data analysis technique was carried out inductively with Miles Huberman's interactive model analysis, which began with collecting data through observation notes, and interviews with 2 ADHD children and 2 Autism children. The results of the study indicate that the collaboration between parents and counselor can increase the enthusiasm for learning for children with special needs so that their learning development can run optimally. In this collaboration pattern, several different collaboration patterns were found in research on crew members as objects. The form of collaboration is virtual, face-to-face and carried out with both modes. This form of learning service for ABK is carried out in the form of collaborative guidance between parents and counselor internally and externally</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></p>

Perceived challenges and strategies to achieve Canada's Food Guide recommendation to “Cook more often”: Findings from parents of young children

Unhealthy diets are detrimental to health, but home meal preparation is associated with better diet quality. Among a sample of parents of children aged 2–12, this study aimed to 1) explore perceived challenges and strategies to meeting the 2019 Canada's Food Guide recommendation of “Cook more often”. From October 2019 to January 2020, 8 focus groups were conducted with 40 parents (73% mothers; 78% white) from Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A hybrid thematic approach with inductive and deductive data analysis was used. Reported challenges included time constraints, picky eating, lacking cooking skills, high price of some fresh ingredients, school restrictions on meals at school, and the influence of children's peers on food choices, mainly unhealthy snacks. Reported strategies to mitigate some challenges included planning and preparing meals ahead of time, using technology or services to make meal planning and grocery shopping more convenient, using devices and kitchen instruments, such as Crockpot®, to make cooking faster, receiving help from spouse or child(ren), and acknowledging that foods perceived as less healthful in moderation can be included in meal preparation. These findings can help inform interventions and educational campaigns to support cooking among families with young children.

Effects of children's perceived satisfaction with the ‘Children's Cafeteria' project on peer relationships, relationships with primary caregivers, happiness, and safety perception : Focusing on children using welfare services

연구목적: 아동이 지각한 어린이식당 사업 만족도가 또래관계, 주양육자와의 관계, 행복감, 안전인식에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 살펴보고자 하며 이를 통해 어린이식당 사업의 확대와다양한 지원방안 마련을 위한 기초자료를 제공하고자 한다. 방법: B광역시에 소재한 복지관, 경로식당, 교회, 문화센터 등 4개 기관에서 어린이식당사업에 참여하고 있는 아동 73명을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였으며, SPSS 18.0을 활용하여 빈도, 백분율, 평균, 상관관계, 다중회귀분석을 실시하였다. 결과: 어린이식당에 대한 만족도가 높을수록 또래 관계와 주양육자와의 관계가 긍정적이었고, 행복감 수준이 높은 것으로 나타났으며, 자신이 지역사회 내에서 안전하게 돌봄을 받는다고 느끼는 정도와 자신이 살고 있는 동네는 살기에 안전한 동네라고 생각하는 수준이높은 것으로 나타났다. 결론: 아동이 지각한 어린이식당 이용 만족도는 아동의 또래관계, 주양육자와의 관계, 행복감, 안전인식 등에서 모두 긍정적인 결과를 가져왔으므로 향후 어린이식당의 이용 만족도를더 높일 수 있는 방안과 저변확대를 가져올 수 있는 다양한 방안을 모색할 필요가 있다.Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived level of satisfaction with a program called the ‘children's cafeteria' project by children using welfare services and how this affects their peer relationships, relationships with primary caregivers, feelings of happiness, and perception of safety. Methods: A survey was conducted on 73 children participating in a children's cafeteria business at four institutions, in this case welfare centers, a senior citizens' cafeteria, churches, and cultural centers located in metropolitan city B. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0, and a cross analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, and multiple regression analysis were conducted. Results: The higher the level of satisfaction with ‘children's cafeteria', the more positive the peer relationship and the relationship with the primary caregiver, and the higher the level of happiness. It was also found that the level of belief that one was living safe neighborhood was high. Conclusions: Satisfaction with the ‘children's cafeteria' program as perceived by children using welfare services has positive results in the children's peer relationships, their relationship with their primary caregiver, their happiness, and their degree of safety awareness. It is necessary to find a variety of possible ways.

Children with language disorder as friends: Interviews with classroom peers to gather their perspectives

Language disorder (LD) is a common childhood condition affecting language development, which can in turn impact children's peer relationships. Although most children with LD are included in mainstream classrooms, there is limited knowledge about the way friendships support or hinder the learning experiences of children with LD in inclusive settings. Typically developing (TD) peers’ views tend to get overlooked when considering inclusion but they need to be heard as they too adapt to inclusive classrooms. In this small-scale study, we explored the perspectives of peers on their friendship quality with children with LD. We conducted friendship interviews with classroom friends (n = 9) of 6–8-year-old children with LD (n = 9), who attended the enhanced provision and mainstream classrooms in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. We used sociometric nomination methods to identify the reciprocal friends of children with LD. We then interviewed these friends using art-based methods and analysed our interview data using thematic framework. Friends of children with LD attending the enhanced provision showed an inclusive mindset and revealed their own strategies for overcoming potential communication barriers. In contrast, friends in full-time mainstream classrooms did not report experiencing communication difficulties when interacting with a peer with LD. We conclude that educational practice should build on those inclusion strategies that children find natural and consider the importance of teaching all children about adjustments that can support inclusion of those with communication difficulties.

A Social Emotional Learning Training Programme in a Poor Rural Primary School in Central China: A Pre-Post Intervention Study.

Many universal school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes in the U.S. and Europe have been found to improve social skills and reduce emotional distress and behaviour problems. The aim of this study is to determine whether an adapted version of the SEL can reduce social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties in children in mainland China, using a pre-post intervention design. The study was conducted in a primary school in an economically-disadvantaged rural area in Henan province in central China. The intervention consisted of 16 weekly 90-minunte classroom sessions involving all 190 children in the school. Social and emotional problems were assessed pre- and post- intervention using the Chinese version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results suggest that: (1) the programme can reduce children's peer relationship problems, and that the reduction was sustainable at the two post-intervention assessments; (2) the intervention effects on emotional symptoms or total difficulties in the overall population are very few, but children identified as high risk in the initial assessment benefited from the programme. This is the first published report on the effectiveness of a school-based SEL programme in mainland China. Although the improvement are limited, the programme does benefit some children.

Chinese child unsociability, maternal maladaptive parenting, and peer exclusion among preschoolers: A cross‐lagged model

AbstractPrevious research has consistently found that unsociability is linked to adjustment difficulties in Chinese children. However, far less attention has been paid to how parents and peers react when confronted with unsociable children. In this study, we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese preschoolers' unsociability, maladaptive parenting, and peer exclusion. Participants were mothers and teachers of N = 391 (Mage = 4.4 years, SD = 0.91 years; 54.5% boys) preschoolers attending eight kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, followed over 8 months. Multi‐source assessments were employed. Mothers rated children's unsociability and their maladaptive (physical hostility, verbal hostility, punishment) parenting practices, and teachers rated children's peer exclusion at each time point. Our results indicated that child unsociability contributed to later increases in both maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion. However, maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion could not predict later increases in unsociability. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of unsociability among Chinese children.

Peers' Emotionality and Children's Academic Achievement in Second Grade: Testing the Moderating Role of Children's Behavioral Self-Regulation.

Although there is interest in the role of peers in children's schooling experiences, few researchers have examined associations and related underlying processes between peers' emotionality, an aspect of temperament, and children's academic achievement. This study evaluated whether target children's (N = 260) own self-regulation, assessed with two behavioral measures, served a moderating function for associations between peers' emotionality and children's own academic achievement in second grade. There was a positive association between peers' positive emotionality and reading scores for children with higher self-regulation. Peers' negative emotionality was negatively related to target children's reading scores, particularly for children with higher self-regulation levels, but was unrelated to math scores. Peers' positive and negative emotionality did not predict math scores, and there was no strong evidence for the moderating role of target children's self-regulation in this association. This study highlights the potential role of children's self-regulation in modulating peer effects on academic achievement, particularly reading.

유치원교사의 교수창의성 및 놀이지원역량과 유아 또래놀이상호작용 간의 구조적 관계 분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to select the teaching creativity of kindergarten teachers and the play support capacity of kindergarten teachers that affect children's peer play interaction, and to analyze the structural relationship between each variable. Methods For this purpose, 42 kindergarten teachers and 387 5-year-old children located in S special city, G province, G city, and S province were surveyed to measure the variables of kindergarten teachers related to the interaction of children with peer play, and the collected data was analyzed using PASW 24.0 and AMOS 24.0, and the effects of parameters were verified according to the bootstrap verification procedure. Results As a result of examining the structural relationship, first, there was a positive correlation between the kindergarten teachers' teaching creativity, play support ability, and children's peer play interaction. Second, the independent variable, the kindergarten teacher's teaching creativity, had a direct effect on the children's peer play interaction. For example, kindergarten teachers' play support ability showed an indirect effect on children's peer play interaction. In other words, it was confirmed that when the teaching creativity of kindergarten teachers increased, children's peer play interaction increased, but kindergarten teachers' play support ability also increased and, accordingly, children's peer play interaction also increased. Conclusions The influence on the increase or decrease of children's peer play interaction is also significant by the kindergarten teacher's teaching creativity, but it was found that the influence increased when the kindergarten teacher's play support ability was added to the kindergarten teacher's teaching creativity. This suggests that re-education of kindergarten teachers such as creative play support workshops is necessary to improve the quality of children's peer play interactions.

Influential children in middle childhood peer culture: Effects of temperament and community culture.

For children in middle childhood, the social world, particularly the behavior and attitudes of their school peers, has been shown to be an important factor in their educational and mental health outcomes. In the school environment, some children seem to influence the attitudes and behavior of their peers more than others. The behavior patterns of children, as reflected in temperamental traits, have been shown to drive peer perception in important ways and might play a role in identifying the individuals and social processes that operate in peer influence. It seems likely that temperamental traits will have different effects on school peers, dependent on characteristics of the school attended. Fourth and fifth grade children from four rural counties in the southeastern portion of the United States were studied. Temperamental characteristics were assessed based on teacher perception of six characteristics. Peer perceptions of the extent to which each child was perceived to influence others in five areas of school culture (e.g., academics, sports) was measured through a peer nomination procedure. Additional status-related perceptions and behaviors of participating children were also assessed by peer nominations. Teacher ratings of temperamental behaviors were submitted to latent profile analyses resulting in a seven-cluster model. Results indicated temperamental profiles were significantly and meaningfully associated with peer perceptions of influence as well as social status. Further, demographic differences between two groups of schools were found to moderate the effects that temperament profile had on peer influence.