A reliable sociometric measure for preschool children.

Examined the reliability of a rating-scale sociometric technique with 19 4-yr-old children. The test–retest reliability of scores Ss received over a 4-wk interval was high compared to the stability of the traditional positive and negative nomination scores. This preschool sociometric measure has applications for the study of the behavioral correlates of early peer acceptance and for research on the effects of social skill training on children's acceptance by peers. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sociometric testing on children's behavior and loneliness in school.

Examined the effects of a positive and negative peer nomination sociometric measure on children's (a) interactions with peers in general, (b) interactions with preferred and nonpreferred playmates, and (c) ratings of mood and of loneliness in school. Twenty-three 5th graders completed either a peer nomination sociometric or a control task (nominating preferred and nonpreferred school subjects). Before and after the nomination task, observers assessed the affective quality (positive, neutral, or negative) of subjects' peer interactions, and children completed mood and loneliness questionnaires. The procedures were subsequently replicated by administering the sociometric task to the control subjects. Analyses revealed no differences between the peer and control nomination task groups on any of the dependent variables measured. Analyses of pre–post differences provided no evidence of negative effects, suggesting that the risk to elementary-school-age children of completing such a sociometric measure, provided certain procedural guidelines are followed, may be minimal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention structure, sociometric status, and dominance: Interrelations, behavioral correlates, and relationships to social competence.

To evaluate the interrelationships and external correlates of 3 potential measures of social competence (SC), a preschool class of 22 4-yr-olds was observed during free play throughout 1 school year. Ranks based on distribution of visual regard among peers, sociometric scores, and competitive dominance interactions were derived from data collected during each term. In addition, observations of play behavior and of aggression were collected throughout the year. Attention rank and sociometric scores were highly correlated and were substantially stable across terms. Dominance was not strongly related to attention rank or to sociometric scores and was less stable across time. The stability of the play and aggression data varied from category to category as did relationships between these categories and the status measures. Evidence demonstrates that attention rank is related to SC and is not a function of disruptive behavior, activity level, or proximity to adults. A relationship was also found between visual regard among peers and the social structure of the preschool play group. It is suggested that SC, broadly conceived, is a more salient basis for social organization among preschool peers than either the distribution of attention per se or competition/dominance relationships. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer interactions, sociometric status, and resistance to deviation in young children.

74 4- and 5-yr-olds, whose peer interactions (receipt of reinforcing, punishing, or neutral interactions) had been extensively recorded and whose sociometric status was known, were placed in a resistance to deviation situation in which a prohibition to play with a valued toy was purportedly endorsed by a peer or an adult. As predicted, the peer interaction variables were not related to deviation under adult endorsement. The more an S was generally punished by her or his peers or engaged in neutral interaction, the greater her or his deviation under a peer-endorsed prohibition. General levels of peer reinforcement were not related to deviation under any condition. In general, more unpopular (disliked) Ss deviated more. In contrast to the general peer interaction results, the specific interaction history between an S and the peer named as endorsing the deviation had no effect on deviation. Results are discussed in terms of the differential roles of group reference processes and specific social learning experiences that govern peer influences on self-regulation and other classes of moral behavior in young children. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' child-rearing style and child's sociometric status.

Examined relationships between parents' childrearing style, the child's prosocial behavior, and the child's sociometric status. The sample consisted of 112 children (6–11 yrs of age) and both their parents. Parental behavior in the interaction with the child was observed at home when parents and child worked together in 2 structured tasks. Factor analyses of parental behavior revealed that 2 factors, Authoritative/Democratic and Authoritarian/Restrictive, can be found in the subsamples of mothers and fathers. These 2 dimensions of maternal and paternal behavior appeared to be predictive of both the child's prosocial behavior and sociometric status. Results are discussed in terms of the possible link between parent and peer systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Popularity, individual friendship selection, and specific peer interaction among children.

The social interaction of 94 4–5 yr old White preschoolers was observed and scored for the frequency of reinforcing, neutral, and punishing behavior. The peer target of that behavior was specified, and Ss were identified sociometrically as liked or disliked by peers. Consistent with past findings, an S's popularity in the peer group was associated with overall rates of receiving and dispensing reinforcing and neutral acts. The selection of a specific liked peer, however, was not related to that peer's overall social behavior but rather to the specific interaction between that peer and the S. In particular, the interaction between an S and a liked peer was characterized by high rates of reinforcing and neutral acts. Ss' interaction with disliked peers did not differ from that with peers who were neither liked nor disliked. The importance of distinguishing between general interaction patterns affecting sociometric status and specific interaction affecting friendship selection is discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of social acceptance in preschool children.

Attempted to evaluate, through observation and a measure of sociometric acceptance, the relative contribution of a number of child characteristics to the prediction of social acceptance in 164 3–6 yr old preschool children. The following variables were investigated as predictors of sociometric acceptance: positive social interactions, occupied behavior when not interacting, MA, CA, and sex. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that MA was the best predictor of sociometric acceptance and that positive social interactions significantly increased the correlation. Occupied behavior, CA, and sex did not significantly increase the multiple correlation. Results support the efficacy of intervention procedures that focus on helping social isolates to develop the ability to interact positively with their peers. Within the limited preschool age range, mental maturity appears to be more important to social acceptance than CA per se. This may be a factor in the findings of low popularity for mainstreamed handicapped children. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between types of aggression and sociometric status: Peer and teacher perceptions.

Examined the relation between aggressive behavior and sociometric status (the extent to which a child is liked by his or her peers) in third and fourth graders. 47 boys and 51 girls from a northern New England elementary school were given a group-administered peer rating of social status and a peer nomination measure assessing five types of aggressive behavior. Teachers of the same children were given modified versions of these measures. Significant negative correlations were found between social status and all categories of aggressive behavior for both sexes except provoked physical aggression in boys for which the correlation was not significant. Indirect aggression (tattling, stealing, or breaking others' property) was the type of aggressive behavior that correlated most highly with low peer ratings. There were significant differences between boys and girls on all five categories of aggressive behavior. Teachers' ratings of peer social status correlated more highly with boys' ratings than with girls' ratings, and teacher perceptions of aggressive behavior correlated significantly and positively with peers' ratings on only two categories, unprovoked physical aggression and indirect aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of adult and peer social initiations on the social behavior of withdrawn, maltreated preschool children.

The present study compared peer and adult social-initiation interventions that were designed to increase the positive social behavior of withdrawn, maltreated preschool children. Thirty-six maltreated subjects were randomly assigned to peer treatment, adult treatment, or control conditions. In the peer treatment conditions, peer confederates were trained to make play overtures to play-group dyads. Adult and peer confederates were matched in the number of positive initiations made during treatment. Conditions for the control group were identical to those for the other groups except the control-group peers or adults were not trained to make initiations. The results indicated significant pre–post differences favoring the peer treatment group in both treatment and generalization settings. School adjustment data supported these findings. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the adult treatment group and the control group on any measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the social behavior and peer acceptance of rejected boys: Effects of social skill training with instructions and prohibitions.

Thirty-two boys who were rejected by their peers in Grades 1–3 were identified on the basis of negative sociometric nominations and negative social behavior. They were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (a) instructions to promote positive social behavior, (b) prohibitions to reduce negative social behavior, (c) a combination of instructions and prohibitions, or (d) no treatment. Interventions were applied during 10 half-hour school play sessions. Behavioral observations and peer and teacher ratings were collected prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and at a follow-up assessment 6 weeks after treatment. Additional peer and teacher ratings were collected at a 1-year follow-up. Prohibitions combined with a response cost for negative behaviors resulted in immediate and stable declines in negative behavior and led to temporary increases in positive responses received from peers. Instructions and the reinforcement of specific social skills promoted sustained positive peer interactions 6 weeks after treatment. Only the combination of instructions and prohibitions led to improved sociometric ratings from nontarget treatment partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cognitive-social learning approach to social skill training with low-status preschool children.

Changes in the behavior and peer acceptance of low-status preschool children as a result of social skill training were examined. Children who had low sociometric status and were also low in classroom use of social skills were randomly assigned to a skill training group (n?=?18) or to an attention control group (n?=?15). Children in the training group were coached in 4 skills: leading peers, asking questions of peers, making comments to peers, and supporting peers. Trained children showed a significant increase in their use of the trained skills comments and leads from pretest to posttest, whereas control-group children showed no change. Neither control nor skill-trained children changed significantly on sociometric measures from pretest to posttest. Increases in skill use in the classroom with peers was correlated with improvements in children's knowledge of friendly social strategies from pre- to posttest. Results are interpreted as evidence of a social skill basis for peer acceptance and of the need to develop procedures to assess the mechanisms of change during social skills training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent prosocial behavior: Peer-group and situational factors associated with helping.

90 8th graders were rated by peers on sociometric dimensions of helpful and popular (and their converses) and were each observed or rated on 6 helping tasks in the school setting that differed in terms of perceived demand characteristics. In general, sociometric nominations were accurate in predicting who was not behaviorally helpful—those Ss rated as the unpopular and unhelpful. Sociometric status of Ss rated more positively by peers did not predict well the level of behavioral performance. To examine the interaction between peer-group status and helping behavior, the most helpful Ss were divided into 2 groups on the basis of peer status. There were significant differences in the types of situations in which these 2 groups performed: More popular helpers scored higher on peer-related helping tasks, whereas less popular helpers were more facilitative in non-peer-related helping tasks. Implications for individual socialization and future research in helping behavior are discussed in relation to peer-group status. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variability in peer group perceptions: Support for the "controversial" sociometric classification group.

Examined whether there would be greater variability in children's perceptions of Ss in a controversial group than in their perceptions of peers in other sociometric classification groups. 480 3rd–5th graders nominated 3 same-sex children as best friends and 3 same-sex children as least-liked peers and rated each of their same-sex peers on 8 social roles and a liking scale. On the basis of the sociometric nominations, Ss were identified as being of popular, average, neglected, rejected, or controversial sociometric status. The 8 social roles were grouped to form 3 clusters labeled aggression, prosociability, and withdrawal. Ss were assigned variability scores that were the standard deviation of the ratings they received from their peers. Consistent with their sociometric classification, controversial sociometric group Ss evidenced higher variability scores on the liking ratings and on the withdrawal and prosociability clusters. In addition to providing support for the controversial sociometric classification, these results suggest the possible value of considering variability measures in conjunction with traditional cumulative or central tendency measures of sociometric status. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability and determinants of sociometric status and friendship choice: A longitudinal perspective.

In a design that combined assessment of short- and long-term stability, 175 boys and 159 girls in the 5th grade were met twice while they were in 5 elementary schools and 3 times after they had entered a single consolidated middle school. At each of these meetings, Ss were asked to nominate 3 same-sex best friends and 3 disliked same-sex peers and to nominate peers for 14 roles in a hypothetical class play. Although there was greater consistency in the Ss' choices of best friends than disliked peers, the stability of acceptance was roughly equal to the stability of rejection. Correction of the test–retest correlations for measurement error indicated that previous studies probably underestimated stability on these measures. Analysis of the association between sociometric measures and social reputation revealed possible causal links between social reputation and subsequent social preference and social impact as assessed by structural equation modeling techniques. No evidence indicated greater consistency of liked and disliked peer choices among girls than among boys, and popularity was only slightly related to consistency in friendship relations. Results indicate that by early adolescence sociometric standing appears to be a relatively stable phenomenon. The need for the assessment of qualitative aspects of friendship relations is stressed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observational and sociometric measures of peer popularity and their relationship to egocentric communication in female preschoolers.

Tested the relationship between popularity and communicative egocentrism with female preschoolers, and assessed the relationship between communicative egocentrism and 2 popularity measures: (a) a realistic measure of actual classroom interaction and (b) a sociometric measure of preferred playmates. Ss were 60 white middle-class 3-5 yr old female preschoolers. Results indicate that communicative egocentrism was significantly related to the observational measure of peer popularity even when the common effect of IQ was removed. Communicative egocentrism, however, was not significantly related to the sociometric measure of popularity. The possibility of a curvilinear relationship existing between communicative egocentrism and a sociometric measure of popularity is advanced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer-related social interactions of developmentally delayed young children: Development and characteristics.

Conducted a short-term longitudinal study of the peer-related social interactions of 111 developmentally delayed toddler and preschool age children. Initial analyses centered on 2 groups: one composed of younger and more severely delayed children (aged 1.8–6.6 yrs) and the other consisting of older and more mildly delayed children (aged 2.4–6.8 yrs). Observers coded a wide range of social and play behaviors during free-play interactions in individual classrooms, including ratings of social participation, constructiveness of play, and teacher behavior, as well as a series of sequential interactive measures. Similarities to normally developing children in the organization and developmental progression of peer interactions across the short term were noted for each of the groups. However, comparisons to normative expectations for preschool age children in relation to Ss' cognitive levels and cross-sectional analyses across CA suggested the existence of unusually marked deficits in peer interactions. These deficits may simply be a manifestation of a more basic and generalized social interaction deficit, or they may be related to the cognitive level-expressive language discrepancy characteristic of such children, or they may be due to the fact that such children are usually surrounded by other children with substantial deficits. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropharmacology of St. John''s Wort (Hypericum)

OBJECTIVE: A developmental-ecological model was used to explore the psychological adjustment and peer social competencies of maltreated preschool children. METHOD: Enhanced research methods were used that included verification of maltreatment status, multiple-variable matching of comparison children, and contextually relevant assessment. One hundred eight Head Start children, of whom 54 were maltreated, participated. Assessment of social functioning included measurement of peer play interactions, global social skills, peer sociometrics, and teacher and parent ratings of behavior problems. RESULTS: Findings indicated that maltreated children were significantly less interactive in peer play and overall exhibited less self-control and interpersonal skill in social interactions than nonmaltreated children. In addition, maltreated children were more likely than their nonmaltreated peers to receive low sociometric ratings and were found by both teachers and parents to display more internalizing behavior problems than comparison children. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the importance of using developmentally sensitive research methods to inform contextually relevant interventions.     

Children's beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar peers in relation to their sociometric status.

Examined children's general beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar peers in relationship to their sociometric status and their experience with parents. In the initial phase involving 886 4th and 5th graders, submissive rejected children but not aggressive rejected children reported less positive beliefs about peers than average status children. In the 2nd portion, which included 77 boys and girls from the larger sample, no relationship between children's sociometric status and their beliefs about unfamiliar peers was found. Beliefs about unfamiliar peers were related, however, to children's perception of the amount of acceptance and support they received from parents. Implications of these findings for children's social competence are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in peer-directed behaviors following preschool experience.

A preliminary study in which the play and negative behaviors of 40 preschoolers (aged 47–57 mo) indicated that Ss were reasonably adjusted to the nursery group by the 3rd wk following enrollment. Study 1 examined changes in peer interactions following preschool experience by observing 37 41–57 mo olds in 2 groups; one was observed 3 wks after beginning preschool and again 3 mo later, and one was observed only after 3 wks. Preschool experience increased social interaction with peers; increases were apparent in rates of dispensing positive and neutral behaviors and of receiving neutral behaviors. Study 2, in which 21 children (mean age 49 mo) were observed after 3 mo of preschool, confirmed these results. Findings support a mere-exposure theory of social interaction. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)