Peer relations in childhood

Encyclopedia on early childhood development, 2005

Child Development, 1990

longitudinal study, the predictive relations between social difficulties in early childhood (grade 2) and subsequent internalizing as well as externalizing problems in middle childhood (grade 5) were examined. Of particular interest was whether early indices of social isolation would predict intemahzing problems 3 years later. A longitudinal sample of 87 children were assessed in both grades 2 and 5 on a variety of measures, including sociometric ratings, peer assessments of aggression and isolation, and self-appraisals of social competence. In the second grade, observations of isolated and aggressive behavior were made, as well, and teacher ratings of internalizing and externalizing difficulties were obtained. In the fifth grade, teacher ratings of shy-anxious and acting-out behavior and self-reports of loneliness and self-esteem were collected. Consistent with previous research, results demonstrated predictive links between early peer rejection (unpopularity) and aggression and subsequent externalizing difficulties. Internalizing problems in middle childhood were significantly related to early social difficulties, particularly those of an internalizing sort, including poor peer acceptance, social isolation, and perceptions of social incompetence. Social isolation, then, may indeed be a risk factor in early development.

1981

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2013

The significance of peers in the lives of children and adolescents is described. The chapter begins with a discussion of theory relevant to the study of peer interactions, relationships, and groups. Next examined are the prevalence, stability, and characteristics of children's friendships, the psychosocial correlates and consequences of having a mutual friendship and of having friendships with others who are experiencing adjustment difficulties. Thereafter, sections are focused on the assessment of peer acceptance, rejection, and popularity, and the behavioral, social-cognitive, affective, and selfsystem concomitants and longitudinal outcomes of peer acceptance and rejection. Subsequently, the extant literature pertaining to child and adolescent peer groups, cliques and crowds is described. In the next section, the growing literature on culture and peer relationships is discussed. Then, in the summary, we present a transactional, developmental framework for understanding individual differences in children's peer relationships experiences.

1993

To specify different modes of individual children's social integration, this study examined qualitative and quantitative aspects characterizing distinct types of peer relationships. Subjects were 255 children in grades 2 through 5 of an inner-city primary school in Berlin, Germany. Subjects were individually interviewed at school about their friends, and were asked to nominate all children with whom they had contact outside school. A subsample of 116 children and their parents were additionally interviewed at home about further characteristics of their friendships, their concept of friendship, the quality of the parent-child relationship, and other characteristics of family life. Three descriptive scales (assistance, fun, and absence of quarreling) were developed and confirmed by factor analysis to be different dimensions of relationship descriptions. Analysis revealed that children described same-sex relationships as more intense than opposite-sex relationships. Having opposite-sex relationships and getting assistance and fun in opposite-sex relationships was positively related to social and cognitive development. The same result was not found for same-sex relationships. Relationships with classmates were of higher importance for children's feeling of acceptance than relationships with non-classmates1 Finally, analysis showed that reciprocal relationships were more intense and provided more assistance and fun than non-reciprocal relationships. (MM)

Development and Psychopathology, 2010

A developmental cascade model linking symptoms of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology through three indices of peer relational difficulty (peer rejection, peer victimization, friendedness) was tested in a general population sample of 653 children followed annually from kindergarten to fourth grade. Rejection and victimization linked kindergarten externalizing problems with fourth-grade internalizing problems. Transactional links between rejection and victimization were found. In addition, peer rejection added to the development of externalizing problems. Friendedness did not add to the development of externalizing or internalizing problems. Cascade paths were similar for boys and girls. Over the period of kindergarten to fourth grade, psychopathology and peer relations become entangled, and the dynamic interplay between multiple manifestations of poor peer relations ultimately adds to the development of both externalizing and internalizing problems and their cross-time relation. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.

Journal of Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning, 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the long and short-term effects of aggressive behaviour with peers, asocial behaviours with peers, and excluded by peers levels of preschool children on the social-emotional variables (making contact-social performance and self-control-thoughtfulness). In this study, where five-yearold children were included, the pre-school education teachers completed the Child Behaviour Scale (aggressive with peers, asocial behaviours with peers and excluded by peers subscales) and Social-Emotional Well-Being and Resilience Scale (making contact-social performance and self-control-thoughtfulness subscales). According to the findings of the study, the problems in peer relationships decreased in the second measurements compared to the first measurements, while the social-emotional variables increased in the second measurements compared to the first measurements. In the study, the three problems faced in peer relationships predicted at least one of the social-emotional well-being variables both in the short-term and the long-term. This result may be interpreted as the fact that peer relationships have strong effects on social and emotional development.

Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion, 2003

In summary, the purpose of this chapter is to describe the nature and significance of children's peer relationships. It is our intention to argue that such relationships represent contexts within which a significant degree of adaptive development occurs, and that without the experience of normal peer relationships, maladaptive development is likely to follow.

Handbook of Child Psychology, 2007

cial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds Québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture to William M. Bukowski. Experiences with peers constitute an important developmental context for children. In these contexts, children acquire a wide range of behaviors, skills, attitudes, and experiences that influence their adaptation during the life span. Experiences with peers affect social, emotional, and cognitive functioning beyond the influences of family, school, and neighborhood. In this chapter, we present the current research related to these claims. We begin by commenting briefly on developments in the study of children's peers since the publication of the last Handbook of Child Psychology in 1998. Our previous chapter distinguished between processes and effects dam3_c10.qxd 1/13/06 3:02 PM Page 571 572 Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups at the levels of the interactions, relationships, and groups. Our goal is to provide an updated examination of current theory and research on peer relationships and development.