Prosocial Children Research Articles

Research on prosocial screen and immersive media effects: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to offer an overview of the trends that characterize the current research on prosocial media effects. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review. The period reviewed was from 2017 to 2021. It found four general trends: The first one is related to research on prosocial children´s media. The second deals with the examination of the effects of mixing prosocial and violent content and practices in the same media text. The third reflects the importance of exploring what happens during media use in relation to user behaviors above all in multiplayer video games social dynamics. Finally, the fourth trend found is related to the exploration of the possibilities opened up by immersive media.

A novel content analysis framework for investigating young children’s television diets: results of a UK-based television content analysis

ABSTRACT Screen time is increasingly pervasive in children’s lives and, despite shifts in screen usage, television remains pre-eminent, especially for young children. As such, viewing content merits investigation. The current study applied a novel coding scheme to assess the relative prominence of prosocial and antisocial content in 90 programmes watched by a sample of 180 British two-year-old children. As well as providing a framework for future use in television research, our study highlights the wide variance of prosociality in children’s programming. Future directions for coding and research are discussed. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Children’s television content has been under scrutiny for decades. Studies involving researcher-chosen content have shown links between prosocial content and young children’s prosocial behaviour, as well as between antisocial content and aggressive behaviour. b. Novel contributions: The current methodological brief outlines a novel coding scheme for investigating prosocial and antisocial content that young children view in their everyday lives, taking into account prosocial and antisocial behaviour, as well as format features of the television programmes. c. Practical implications: The current work can be utilized and adapted for research in diverse disciplines by investigators interested in how prosocial and antisocial content are associated with child behavioural outcomes.

THE EFFECTS OF POPULAR PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR CHILDREN ON PEERS AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

The aims of the study were to find out the effects of popular pro-social children on peers and school environment. Mixed methods were used in the present study which had two phases; quantitative method and qualitative method. Peer matrix of peer nomination was used as data collection in quantitative, meanwhile interview was used in qualitative method. The results revealed that 5 popular children obtained from peer matrix of peer nomination were liked most by peers. The Results indicated that popular children gave effects on peers and school environment. Popular children influenced their peers and school environment in pro-social behaviour, leadership, and academic achievement. Meanwhile, besides in academic achievement homeroom teachers also agreed on the effects of popular children in pro-social behaviour.

Developmental trajectories of physical aggression and prosocial behavior in early childhood: Family antecedents and psychological correlates.

Research has documented various family and individual risk factors associated with severe conduct problems, but little is known about the developmental origins of children who engage in both aggressive and prosocial interactions with others. The present study utilized growth-mixture modeling to identify distinct trajectories of physical aggression and prosocial behavior across the preschool years in a large (n = 424), diverse (42% immigrant) Canadian sample. Parent ratings of aggression and prosocial behavior were assessed at ages 3, 4.5, and 6 years. Observed mother-child interactions and mother-reported child exposure to interparental conflict were measured at 1.5 and 3 years. Children's psychological functioning (language ability, academic achievement, theory of mind understanding) was assessed at ages 3 and 4.5. Four trajectory classes emerged. Most children (74%) showed low/moderate-declining aggression and high/moderate-increasing prosocial behavior (prosocial and desisting classes), whereas a minority (7%) were highly aggressive and relatively low in prosocial behavior (chronic aggressive class). The remaining 19% of children exhibited low-increasing aggression and moderate-stable prosocial behavior (escalating class). Increased exposure to interparental conflict between 1.5 and 3 years uniquely predicted membership in the escalating compared with the prosocial group, whereas prosocial and escalating children did not differ in positive parent-child interactions in toddlerhood. Children in the escalating class demonstrated typical psychological functioning relative to prosocial children, and both outperformed chronically aggressive youth. These findings highlight the need to move beyond a singular deficit-model to consider alternative pathways by which socially skilled children may develop aggressive tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

KONSELING KELUARGA DENGAN HUMAN VALIDATION PROCESS MODEL MENINGKATKAN PROSOSIAL ANAK

This journal is the result of research on family counseling through human validation process model to improve the low prosocial children in the family, so it could be a good attitude and behaviour. Reasearch method used qualitative approach with a case-study. This research sample is a child from a family. Instruments to collect the data are open-questionnaire, interviews and observation. This research results show that family counseling through human validation process model is given as a treatment is able tu increase prosocial’s child in the family. Key Word: family counseling (human validation process model), prosocial

Effect of pro-social behaviour and conduct problems on the relationship between limiting longstanding illness and negative emotional symptoms in children

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore direct and moderating effects of pro-social behaviour and conduct problems on the link between limiting longstanding illness (LL-I) and negative emotional symptoms in children.Design/methodology/approachThe Welsh Health Survey variables: LL-I, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, pro-social behaviour, gender, age and socio-economic status were entered into regression models to assess the relationships outlined above. Cross-sectional data from several years were combined.FindingsIn the cohort of 627 children aged 4–12 years who had LL-I, 601 (95.9 per cent) had complete data for analysis. Children with LL-I scored a mean of 1.8 points higher on negative emotional symptoms than children without LL-I, with LL-I accounting for 6 per cent of the variance in emotional symptoms in a regression model. In children with LL-I, highly pro-social children had lower levels of negative emotional symptoms compared to those with low pro-social levels (1.1 points on emotional symptoms scale, 95% CI=0.55–1.70;p<0.001). In children with LL-I, high levels of conduct problems were associated with increased negative emotional symptoms compared to those with low levels of conduct disorder (2.1 points on emotional symptoms scale, 95% CI=1.3–2.5;p<0.001).Research limitations/implicationsPotential improvements include a longitudinal design, and use of multi-informant Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores.Practical implicationsAssessment of children with LL-I could usefully include pro-social behaviours.Social implicationsNational policy could consider the value of promoting pro-social responses.Originality/valueEmotional symptoms in children with LL-I are associated with pro-social behaviour and conduct problems, primarily as a direct effect. Pro-social interventions could promote emotional wellbeing in children with LL-I.

Classrooms in Peace Within Violent Contexts: Field Evaluation of Aulas en Paz in Colombia.

Classrooms in Peace (Aulas en Paz) is an elementary school-based multicomponent program for prevention of aggression and promotion of peaceful relationships. Inspired by international programs and socio-emotional research, it includes (1) a classroom universal curriculum, (2) parent workshops and home visits to parents of the 10% most aggressive children, and (3) extracurricular peer groups of two aggressive and four prosocial children. Activities seek to promote socio-emotional competencies such as empathy, anger management, creative generation of alternatives, and assertiveness. A 2-year quasi-experimental evaluation was conducted with 1154 students from 55 classrooms of seven public schools located in neighborhoods with the presence of youth gangs, drug cartels, and high levels of community violence in two Colombian cities. Despite several implementation (e.g., about half of the activities were not implemented) and evaluation (e.g., randomization problems, large number of missing data, and changes between treatment and control groups) challenges, positive results were found in prosocial behavior and in reduction of aggressive behavior, according to teacher reports, and in assertiveness and reduction of verbal victimization, according to student reports. Furthermore, implementation cost (25 US dollars per student per year) was very low compared to other programs in developed countries. This study shows that the Classrooms in Peace program has an important potential to generate positive results and highlights the challenges of implementing and evaluating prevention programs in highly violent environments.

Aggressive and prosocial children’s evaluation and justification of transgressions and their relationship to the teacher–child relationship in Tanzania

This cross-sectional study examines the evaluation and justification of transgressions in the moral and non-moral domain by children nominated by their peers as prosocial or as aggressive, and their relationship to the teacher–child relationship. Eighty children from ten pre-primary schools, 40 nominated as prosocial and 40 as aggressive, aged 5–7 years (M=6.0 and SD=.64), responded to hypothetical transgression stories in the moral and non-moral domain. Children from both groups evaluated moral transgressions as more wrong than non-moral transgressions. However, children nominated as prosocial more frequently evaluated the moral transgressions as wrong compared to children nominated as aggressive. Furthermore, children nominated as prosocial more frequently justified moral transgressions on the basis of intrinsic factors, whereas both groups more frequently justified non-moral transgressions on the basis of non-moral factors. Teacher–child relationship was more strongly related to children’s peer nominated social behavior than children’s evaluation of transgressions in the moral and non-moral domain.

Evidence of reactive gene-environment correlation in preschoolers' prosocial play with unfamiliar peers.

The development of prosocial behaviors during the preschool years is essential for children's positive interactions with peers in school and other social situations. Although there is some evidence of genetic influences on prosocial behaviors, very little is known about how genes and environment, independently and in concert, affect prosocial behaviors in young children. This study of 126 twin and sibling pairs examined 5-year-old preschool children's positive behaviors (prosocial and easy-going) while playing freely with an unfamiliar, same-age, same-sex peer. Children were randomly paired, allowing us to rule out passive (parent-influenced environment) and active (child-driven peer choices) gene-environment correlations as potential influences on the results. We found evidence of reactive gene-environment correlation, demonstrating that children who are genetically more likely to act prosocially and to be temperamentally outgoing appear to evoke more prosocial and easy-going behaviors from an unfamiliar peer. We also found that both dominant genetic and nonshared environmental factors were significant influences on preschoolers' prosocial play behaviors, but that neither genetic nor shared environmental factors were significant for easy-going play behaviors. These findings shed important light on influences of prosocial behaviors in preschoolers. Via inherited tendencies, preschool children's positive behaviors evoke similar positive behaviors from their play peers. Given that prosocial behaviors are preludes to a large range of important socially appropriate behaviors, prosocial children should be encouraged to interact with their peers to potentially create a more positive atmosphere within social contexts.

Prosociaal nieuws en prosociaal gedrag in kinderen

An experimental study on prosocial television news for children and prosocial behavior An experimental study on prosocial television news for children and prosocial behavior Previous findings have indicated that prosocial children are happier, are more popular, and do better at school. As children devote a substantial amount of time watching television, children’s programming might be an excellent avenue to encourage prosocial behaviour – and, subsequently, well-being in children. In an experimental study among 372 children aged 9 to 13 years, we examined whether prosocial behaviour in children’s television news affects prosocial intentions and behaviours. Children in the experimental condition watched prosocial news showing children organizing a fundraising action for unicef. In the control condition, children watched an item about unicef without prosocial behaviour. After watching, children could donate to unicef which served as an index of prosocial behaviour. Prosocial intentions were assessed with a questionnaire. Findings demonstrated that children who watched prosocial news were significantly more willing to help in setting up a project for unicef at their schools and donated more money to unicef.

Liking and Perceived Probability of Victimization of Peers Displaying Behaviors Characteristic of Anxiety and Depression

Although several longitudinal studies have indicated that internalising behaviours can precede victimisation, there has been little attempt to examine the influence of these behaviours experimentally. In the current study 168, 12–14 year old participants read vignettes of peers displaying behaviours indicating anxiety, depression, or pro-social characteristics. For each vignette participants indicated their degree of liking of the hypothetical peer as well as the extent to which they believed that the peer would be victimised by others and by themself. Compared to hypothetical pro-social children, peers displaying anxious or depressed behaviours were less liked and were perceived as more likely to be victimised by both others and by the participant themself. The results point to the vulnerability produced by anxiety and depression and suggest programs that might be combined with whole-of-school approaches to empower victims.

With a Little Help From My Friends: Bystander Context and Children's Attitude Toward Peer Helping

This experimental vignette study examined children's perceptions and evaluations of helping a peer, in the context of friendships and in the presence of by-standing peers. A total of 1246 children (8 to 12 years) reported their attitude toward helping when either friends of the helper, friends of the recipient of help, or no bystanders were present. In agreement with the competitive altruism model, children most strongly endorsed helping when friends of the helper were present compared to the other two situations. This indicates that children take reputation concerns into account when evaluating helping situations. However, in contrast to lower prosocial children, the evaluations of higher prosocial children were not influenced by the presence of by-standing peers. These children seemed to base their evaluation on increasing the recipient's welfare and less on reputation concerns of the helper.

Longitudinal trajectories of peer relations in children with specific language impairment

BackgroundPeer relations is a vulnerable area of functioning in children with specific language impairment (SLI), but little is known about the developmental trajectories of individuals.MethodsPeer problems were investigated over a 9-year period (from 7 to 16 years of age) in 171 children with a history of SLI. Discrete factor growth modelling was used to chart developmental trajectories. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate factors associated with group membership.ResultsFour distinct developmental trajectories were identified: low-level/no problems in peer relations (22.2% of participants), childhood-limited problems (12.3%), childhood-onset persistent problems (39.2%) and adolescent-onset problems (26.3%). Risk of poor trajectories of peer relations was greater for those children with pragmatic language difficulties. Prosocial behaviour was the factor most strongly associated with trajectory group membership. Overall, the more prosocial children with better pragmatic language skills and lower levels of emotional problems had less difficulty in developing peer relations.ConclusionsAnalysis of developmental trajectories enriches our understanding of social development. A sizeable minority in the present sample sustained positive relations through childhood and adolescence, and others overcame early difficulties to achieve low levels of problems by their early teens; the majority, however, showed childhood-onset persistent or adolescent-onset problems.

A preventative intervention for disruptive young boys may reduce adult criminality by reducing antisocial behaviour in adolescence

QUESTION Question: How does a preventative intervention for disruptive boys reduce adult criminality? Patients: In total, 250 boys of low-socioeconomic status in kindergarten (age 7 years) who scored above the...

Prosocial and antisocial children's perceptions of peers' motives for prosocial behaviours

This study investigated whether peer-nominated prosocial and antisocial children have different perceptions of the motives underlying peers' prosocial actions. Eighty-seven children, aged 10-12 years old, completed peer-nomination measures of social behaviour. On the basis of numbers of social nominations received, a subsample of 51 children (32 who were peer-nominated as 'prosocial', and 18 who were peer-nominated as 'antisocial') then recorded their perceptions of peers' motives for prosocial behaviours. Expressed motives were categorized predominantly into three categories, coinciding with Turiel's (1978) 'moral', 'conventional', and 'personal domains'. Results indicate that children's social reputation is associated with the extent to which they perceive peers' prosocial motives as 'personal' or 'moral', with more prosocial children attributing moral motives, and more antisocial children attributing personal motives. Although traditionally Turiel's domain theory has been used to understand 'antisocial' children's behaviour, the current findings suggest that 'prosocial' children's behaviour may also be related to domains of judgment.

Are the Competent the Morally Good? Perspective Taking and Moral Motivation of Children Involved in Bullying

AbstractThe present study tested the hypothesis of the cognitively competent but morally insensitive bully. On the basis of teacher and peer ratings, 212 young elementary school children were selected and categorized as bullies, bully–victims, victims, and prosocial children. Children's perspective‐taking skills were assessed using theory‐of‐mind tasks, and moral motivation was assessed with a task about moral emotion attributions after moral rule transgressions. Analyses at the group level revealed that only bully–victims, but not bullies, were characterized by a deficit in perspective taking, while both aggressive groups showed a deficit in moral motivation. Analyses at the individual level, however, revealed that bullies were a more heterogeneous group, including children with an asymmetry between perspective taking and moral motivation, as well as children scoring consistently low or high on both measures. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between (1) strategic social–cognitive and moral competencies and (2) different subgroups of bullies.

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning were investigated. Participants were 235 kindergarten children (M=6.2 years) and 136 elementary-school children (M=7.6 years) who were selected as aggressive or prosocial based on (kindergarten) teacher ratings. The children were asked to evaluate hypothetical rule violations, attribute emotions they would feel in the role of the victimizer, and justify their responses. Compared with younger prosocial children, younger aggressive children attributed fewer negative emotions and were more likely to provide sanction-oriented justifications when evaluating rule violations negatively. Furthermore, age-, gender- and context-effects in moral development occurred. The context-effects included both effects of transgression type (i.e., prosocial morality vs. fairness) on emotion attributions and moral reasoning and the effects of the context of moral evaluation and emotion attribution on moral reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotion attributions and moral reasoning as antecedents of children's aggressive and prosocial behavior.

Shame and guilt as behaviour regulators: Relationships with bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour

This study aimed at investigating intentional and non‐intentional situations eliciting shame and guilt in relation to children's involvement in bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour. We used the contextual model designed by Olthof, Schouten, Kuiper, Stegge, and Jennekens‐Schinkel (2000) according to which certain situations elicit more shame than guilt (‘shame‐only’, SO), whereas others elicit both guilt and shame (‘shame‐and‐guilt’, SAG). Besides these, four new scenarios were added (2 SO and 2 SAG) in which the protagonist was alternatively the perpetrator or the receiver of harm. Participants were 121 children aged 9–11, who filled in the self‐report Shame and Guilt Questionnaire, and a peer nomination survey to investigate the roles of bully, victim, prosocial and not involved. Results showed that in SAG situations, perpetrated‐harm situations elicited more guilt than neutral situations; while in SO situations, neutral situations elicited more shame than received‐harm situations. In SAG situations, prosocial children reported feeling more ashamed and guilty than bullies and not‐involved children, while in SO situations, victims scored higher on shame than not‐involved children. Results are discussed considering the contextual model employed and the relationship between emotions and behaviours.

Importance of age-mate relations for a personality development and the relations difficulties

Recent researches show that age-mates are an important agent, not only for personality socializing but also for personality development in general. Age-mate relations are unique because they are characterized by equality (that we cannot find in a parent-child or a teacher-child relation) and reciprocity (an individual is influenced by its age-mates and vice versa). Age-mate relations change according to age function and an individual’s development. An interest for another children starts at the age of six months when babies watch, coo, and touch each other. But only at the age of three or four they start making friendships. At the preschool period, from two to five, they build up age-mate relations. Only when they are five or six, they like to play with their age-mates without division of labor that would be directed to a common goal (unifying game), or to play in a group that was formed for doing some activity or achieving some goal, with coordinated steps (cooperation game). In their mid-childhood they form groups. The groups are naturally formed by children that live near or go to school together. Adolescence is a period when age-mates have even greater influence because by spending their time with age –mates they achieve their interests. On the other hand age-mates influence interests, attitudes and values of the youth. Characteristics that make a child desirable or undesirable to another child are similar to those that children hope their friend would have. Children prefer pro-social children who like to play with their age-mates, who smile and offer their toy or help. They reject aggressive children, and they ignore withdrawn and shy children. Desirable preschool children cope well with their anger. They answer directly minimizing further conflicts and keeping up a relationship.

Aulas en Paz: A multicomponent program for the promotion of peaceful relationships and citizenship competencies

AbstractAulas en Paz (Classrooms in Peace) seeks to prevent aggression and promote peaceful relationships by means of a classroom curriculum for the development of socioemotional competencies; peer group sessions with two initially aggressive and four prosocial children; and workshops, home visits, and phone calls to parents. Preliminary evaluations in Colombian elementary schools have shown drastic reductions in aggression and substantial improvements in prosocial behavior, classroom climate, and friendship networks. The combination of universal components reaching all students and targeted components reaching more intensively those who need it the most appears to be responsible for such large effects.