Children's Social Experiences Research Articles

Adversities in childhood and their impact on mental health across the life course

How is the brain shaped and refined by children's early social and emotional experiences? In this colloquium, I will focus on the development of children who have endured environments marked by toxic levels of stress early in their development. These children are known to be at increased risk for a variety of health, academic, and social problems. Some of these problems appear immediately, but others may not manifest themselves until much later in development. I will highlight ways in which we can address central issues in human development by studying the quality and timing of children's social experiences. To do so, I will describe recent research involving children who have experienced child abuse and neglect, children raised in poverty, children raised in institutional settings, children who have endured traumatic life experiences, and typically developing children. Through these studies, I will highlight new insights about the developmental processes underlying children's sensitivity to their social environments as a way to understand the emergence of both adaptive and maladaptive human emotional behavior. Defining and specifying ways in which the environment creates long-term effects on brain and behavior holds tremendous promise for improving the health and well-being of children.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Autism and the social world of childhood: a sociocultural perspective on theory and practice

1. Introduction: Richness and Variation in Children's Lives 2. The Social Experiences of Children with Autism 3. Children's Cultural Worlds 4. Children's Cultures of Communication 5. Finding Ways to Play and Make Meaning 6. Researching Autism in Natural Contexts 7. From Intervention to Assessment in Autism Education 8. The Practitioner's Toolbox

Piloting the use of experience sampling method to investigate the everyday social experiences of children with Asperger syndrome/high functioning autism

Objective: This pilot study explored the nature and quality of social experiences of children with Asperger Syndrome/High Functioning Autism (AS/HFA) through experience sampling method (ESM) while participating in everyday activities. Methods: ESM was used to identify the contexts and content of daily life experiences. Six children with AS/HFA (aged 8–12) wore an iPod Touch on seven consecutive days, while being signalled to complete a short survey. Results: Participants were in the company of others 88.3% of their waking time, spent 69.0% of their time with family and 3.8% with friends, but only conversed with others 26.8% of the time. Participants had more positive experiences and emotions when they were with friends compared with other company. Participating in leisure activities was associated with enjoyment, interest in the occasion, and having positive emotions. Conclusions: ESM was found to be helpful in identifying the nature and quality of social experiences of children with AS/HFA from their perspective.

Social Interactions of School-Aged Children with CFA: Mothers' Perspectives and Advice

Objective : To learn about (1) mothers' perspectives on their children's social experiences and (2) how mothers interpret social situations and provide guidance to their children in challenging situations. Design : This was a qualitative study analyzing narratives. Mothers participated in a semistructured interview; mothers and their children participated in a social coaching task involving responses to hypothetical situations. Transcripts of audio recordings were used to create thematic coding categories, and transcripts were reviewed and coded. Setting : Children were patients at a reconstructive plastic surgery center in an urban hospital and medical school; families were recruited from a regional support group associated with the hospital. Participants : Mothers of nine children with congenital craniofacial anomalies, aged 9 to 14 years. Main Outcome Measures : Thematic narrative coding categories, focusing on mothers' perspectives on children's actual social experiences (from the interview) and mothers' advice and interpretations regarding challenging hypothetical social tasks (from the coaching task). Results : In the interviews, mothers reported positive and negative social experiences for their children. Multiple approaches were used by mothers to interpret social interactions experienced by children (interview) and hypothetical social situations (coaching task). These included consideration of situational factors, motivations of others, and factors within own child. Mothers' hypothetical advice was often prosocial, including concrete strategies to resolve conflict, to plan ways to avoid problems, to foster self-reliance, and to avoid hurtful situations. Conclusions : Mothers showed active interest and concern in their children's peer relationships and were thoughtful in devising strategies to successfully manage potential social challenges.

Japanese and American children’s moral evaluations of reporting on transgressions.

American and Japanese children's evaluations of the reporting of peers' transgressions to authority figures were investigated. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 62) were presented with vignettes and were asked to evaluate the decisions of child observers who reported their friend's either major or relatively minor transgression to a teacher. The results showed that, in both countries, participants across all age groups considered it appropriate to report major transgressions. However, compared with older participants, the youngest children thought it was appropriate to tattle (i.e., to report more minor transgressions). The results also showed a cross-cultural difference: Japanese compared with American participants considered it appropriate to report minor transgressions. The age-related findings are discussed with reference to children's social experience and improving cognition. The cross-cultural findings are discussed with reference to potential differences in the emphases placed on respecting authority relationships, empathy, and social interdependence by the 2 cultures.

Effect of HIV/AIDS on Children's Attitudes Toward Learning: Voices of Teachers and Caregivers in Western Kenya

The well-being of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS is often significantly compromised, as they are prone to discrimination, victimization, and exclusion from social and familial structures. The present study examines the effect of HIV/AIDS on children's attitudes toward learning, as perceived by teachers and caregivers. Teachers and caregivers from seven orphanage schools in Western Kenya participated in the study. The findings indicate how children orphaned as a result of AIDS arrive at orphanages with low expectations, lack of motivation, and poor attitudes toward learning, and how they benefit from a positive and supportive environment. The study contributes to the literature on children's physical, emotional, psychological, social, and academic experiences worldwide by adding to knowledge on the educational needs of children in difficult circumstances.

Sustaining friendships, relationships, and rights at school

Research that highlights disabled students' perspectives often describes experiences of exclusion, isolation, loneliness, and bullying, and difficulties finding friends. Within this broader social context, students' rights are placed at risk. Using examples from New Zealand research, this paper explores the social experiences of disabled students at school within a rights-based framework, and with reference to the goals and guidance of the United Nations Convention on the Child; the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities; the New Zealand Disability Strategy; and the New Zealand Curriculum. The notions of ‘freedom from discrimination’ and ‘participation and belonging’ arising out of these documents are used to explore the contexts that shape disabled children's social experiences at school. Social exclusion is associated with children's experiences of discrimination and barriers to participation. It is suggested that social participation will be enhanced when schools challenge exclusion and develop socio-cultural contexts that are influenced by inclusive values and an appreciation of disabled students' experiences, views, and preferences to be included as part of the group of all students at school.

Attitudes and experiences of parents regarding inclusive and special school education for children with learning and intellectual disabilities

In a survey, 840 parents of children with cognitive deficits who were educated either in special schools or in inclusive classes were asked to assess their children's school experiences. The results showed an overall high degree of satisfaction with the schooling, but there were marked differences among the parents' assessments depending on the degree of learning disabilities and on the type of school. Satisfaction with their children's social experiences and satisfaction with the special education curriculum depend on these two factors. All in all, many parents of children in inclusive classes were satisfied with their children's schooling than those of children in special schools. The analysis of the causes for discontent showed that dissatisfied parents had chosen the type of school under less favourable conditions and a larger part of them are still not convinced of this necessity of additional help. This applied to parents of pupils in inclusive classes as well as to those of pupils in special schools. Furthermore, parents of children with German as a second language showed a higher degree of discontent than others.

Essential Conditions for Research with Children with Autism: Issues Raised by Two Case Studies

This article discusses conditions for research into the social experiences of children with autism in real‐life contexts using material from case studies of two boys with autism and their friends in mainstream school settings. It is argued that essential conditions for research with children with autism in ordinary social contexts should include a participatory approach, take a wide perspective of group processes, and account for multiple influences on social behaviour. Socially focused, participatory research design allows the social competencies that children with autism do have to be seen and produces multiple perspectives on children's social activity. Children and adults thinking together and sharing their ideas about the nature of experience for a child with autism and their friends allows for shared interpretations and reduces the very real possibility of one researcher alone making wrong assumptions about the nature of the investigation.

Parental encouragement of initiative-taking and adjustment in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families.

Due to the requirements of the competitive, market-oriented urban society, parents in urban and urbanized families are more likely than parents in rural families to encourage initiative-taking in child rearing in China. The socialization experiences of children from different types of families may be related to their adjustment. This study examined parental socialization attitudes, social and school adjustment, and their relations in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families. Participants were elementary school students (N = 1,033; M age = 11 years) and their parents in China. Data were obtained from parental reports, peer evaluations, teacher ratings, and school records. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that parents in urban and urbanized families had higher scores than parents in rural families on encouragement of initiative-taking. Urban children, particularly girls, were more sociable, obtained higher social status, and had fewer school problems than their rural counterparts. Children from urbanized families were different from rural children and similar to urban children in social and school adjustment. Moreover, multigroup invariance tests showed that parental encouragement of initiative-taking was associated more strongly with children's sociable-assertive behavior and social standing in the urban and urbanized groups than in the rural group. The results indicate that particular socialization attitudes may vary in their adaptive value in child development as a function of specific social and cultural requirements in changing societies.

Material Development of the Five Selected Short Stories for Children of Dr. Luis P. Gatmaitan

The study aimed to find out how Dr. Luis P. Gatmaitan, a Palanca Hall of Fame awardee, impact children through his five short stories, randomly selected selected by the researcher and evaluated using the descriptive content analysis. This study ascertained (1) the subject matter of the five selected short stories for children of Dr. Luis P. Gatmaitan; (2) the reflection of social and cultural experiences of children in the selected short stories for children; and (3) the stories’impact on the appeal/interest/ curiosity/motivation of children. Based on the researcher’s evaluation, the five selected short stories of Dr. Luis P. Gatmaitan mirror the children’s own experiences and teach them how to deal with real-life situations, particularly on health related issues. Moreover, these stories have an appeal among children; arouse their interest and curiosity; and motivate them to read more since the way the stories were told capture the interest of the child. The imaginative way of conveying the messages through the narrative appeals to the children’s mind. With the above mentioned findings, it would be safe to assume that the five selected short stories of Dr. Luis P. Gatmaitan do impact the children on how they view life through the science of medicine. Indeed, the significance of literature for children can never be underestimated. Keywords - Material development, short stories, children's experiences, social and cultural experiences

Intergenerational relations and the family food environment in families with a child with obesity

Background: Implicit in much of the literature on childhood obesity is a hierarchical, unidirectional understanding of intergenerational relations, which highlights parents' responsibility for children's food and eating practices.Aim: Drawing upon alternative understandings from the social science literature, which offer more nuanced insights into family life and generational relations, this paper explores, through parents' narratives, the construction of family food environments and family eating practices in families with a child with obesity.Subjects and methods: Data were generated through individual, semi-structured interviews with parents of children attending a community-based obesity intervention programme in an inner city area in the North of England. Forty-nine interviews were conducted with 25 parental adults from 19 families.Results: Parent's own concerns over their body weight and size and children's social experiences in a fat-averse society can both work to flatten the traditional familial, adult–child hierarchy. Both parents and children actively contribute to the construction of family life and family eating practices.Conclusion: Findings may pose challenges for contemporary health promotion and policy agendas which presume that parents have the ability and resources to control and direct children's eating in a unidirectional and authoritative manner.

To intervene or not to intervene that is the question

This article presents a fine-detail analysis of one observation from a wider ethnographic study of four-year-old children in a primary school in mid-Wales. The social interactions of the participating children show the multifaceted nature of children's everyday social organisation. By investigating the complexities of children's social interactions, their social competencies in everyday events are revealed. This raises the question of the role of early childhood teachers and whether they should intervene in children's social experiences.

Probing the Depths of Informant Discrepancies: Contextual Influences on Divergence and Convergence

This study examined how a contextual approach to child assessment can clarify the meaning of informant discrepancies by focusing on children's social experiences and their if…then reactions to them. In a sample of 123 children (M age = 13.30) referred to a summer program for children with behavior problems, parent–teacher agreement for syndromal measures of aggression and withdrawal was modest. Agreement remained low when informants assessed children's reactions to specific peer and adult events. The similarity of these events increased consistency within informants but had no effect on agreement between parents and teachers. In contrast, similarity in the pattern of social events children encountered at home and school predicted informant agreement for syndromal aggression and for aggression to aversive events. Our results underscore the robustness of informant discrepancies and illustrate how they can be studied as part of the larger mosaic of person–environment interactions.

Future Directions: Social Development in the Context of Social Justice

AbstractMany societies and cultures have become increasingly diverse and heterogeneous over the past decade. This diversity has a direct bearing on social justice in children's and adolescents' social development. Increased diversity can have positive consequences, such as the possibility for increased empathy, tolerance, perspective taking, and the celebration of various cultural traditions and values, but it can also result in increased prejudice, bias, and discrimination. In this article, we suggest that incorporating a focus on social justice can transform the field of social development. This can be done by considering the larger societal context of diversity or heterogeneity when investigating children's peer interactions, attitudes, group identity, and social experience. In addition, new findings that incorporate social justice concerns have implications for designing interventions to enhance children's healthy social development. We highlight and discuss recent areas of research that bear on this perspective and discuss avenues for future research and investigation.

Social Experience, Social Attention and Word Learning in an Overhearing Paradigm

This study explored the relation between children's daily experiences, their attentional behaviors, and their ability to learn words from directed and overheard speech at 20 months of age. Novel objects were presented and labeled in one of two conditions: (a) a Direct condition in which an experimenter addressed the child or (b) an Overhearing condition in which an experimenter addressed a confederate. Children's attentional behaviors during training were coded and parents were asked to describe their children's social experiences outside of the laboratory. In the Direct condition there was no reliable pattern of correlations between experience, attention, and word learning. In the Overhearing condition, word learning positively related to both the amount of time children spent with multiple adults and to the duration of children's attention to the experimenters during training. Furthermore, children's experience around multiple adults positively related to their attention to the experimenters. These findings suggest the possibility that children who have more experience with multiple adults develop attention strategies that enable them to learn words in an overhearing situation.

What we learn from our sisters and brothers: For better or for worse

Siblings have considerable influence on one another's development throughout childhood, yet most human development research has neglected sibling socialization. Through this volume, we aim to enhance our understanding of how siblings play formative roles in one another's social and emotional development. We examine the mechanisms by which children are influenced by their brothers and sisters, clarify the ways in which these mechanisms of socialization are similar to and different from children's socialization experiences with parents, and consider the conditions under which sibling socialization results in positive versus negative consequences for individual development.

A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Ethnic Socialization among International Adoptees

Although the number of U.S. families who choose international adoption has grown dramatically over the past decade, concern remains about separating such children from their racial/ethnic/cultural groups of origin. Existing literature has primarily focused on African American or immigrant children's ethnic socialization experiences with little attention given to ethnic socialization of international adoptees. This paper describes a theoretical framework for understanding ethnic socialization among international adoptees and examines the applicability of existing models for understanding developmental and psychosocial outcomes for adopted minority children. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Does life satisfaction predict victimization experiences in adolescence?

AbstractLongitudinal relationships between adolescents' life satisfaction and peer victimization and prosocial experiences were assessed. A total of 417 students in Grades 6–8 completed the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS: Huebner, 1994) and the Children's Social Experience Questionnaire – Self Report (SEQ‐SR: Crick & Grotpeter, 1996) on two occasions (Time 1 and Time 2), 1 year apart. The results revealed that Time 1 life satisfaction scores did not add to the prediction of Time 2 overt victimization scores but did add to the prediction of Time 2 relational victimization scores and prosocial experiences. Additionally, Time 1 overt victimization, relational victimization, and prosocial experiences did not significantly add to the prediction of Time 2 general life satisfaction. However, the predictive equations for Time 1 relational victimization and prosocial experiences approached significance, suggesting the possibility of bidirectional effects between life satisfaction and relational victimization and prosocial peer experiences. Most interestingly, lower levels of life satisfaction appeared to be a newly identified risk factor for two qualitatively distinct types of adverse peer relationships (relational victimization and lack of prosocial experiences). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Social functioning and adjustment in Canadian-born children with Chinese and European backgrounds.

The purpose of the study was to examine social functioning and adjustment in peer context in Chinese Canadian and European Canadian children. A sample of elementary school children participated in the study. Data on social functioning, peer acceptance and rejection, and victimization were collected from peer assessments and sociometric nominations. The results indicated that Chinese Canadian children were viewed by peers as less aggressive-disruptive than European Canadian children. Chinese Canadian girls, but not boys, were more shy-sensitive than their European Canadian counterparts. Sociability was associated with peer acceptance, whereas aggression was associated with peer rejection and victimization. Shyness was associated with peer relationship difficulties more evidently in European Canadian children than in Chinese Canadian children. These results indicate the relevance of ethnic background to children's peer social experiences.