Intimate partner violence and children's reaction to peer provocation: The moderating role of emotion coaching.

The current study examined the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and children's reactions to a stressful peer interaction in a community-based sample. The moderating role of parental emotion coaching in buffering children from negative reactions to a peer was also examined. Children participated in a peer provocation paradigm and mothers completed the Parent Meta-Emotion Interview. Both adaptive (i.e., laughing, ignoring) and maladaptive (i.e., hostile/challenging, odd behaviors) reactions to the provocative peer were examined. IPV was positively related to children's laughing and odd behaviors but was unrelated to ignoring and hostile/challenging behaviors. Additionally, emotion coaching was found to moderate relations between IPV and children's laughing and odd behaviors. The importance of understanding protective factors in families experiencing IPV and of developing emotion coaching parenting programs is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of victimization in Chinese children's peer groups.

This study reports a cross-sectional investigation of the behavioral and academic correlates of victimization in Chinese children's peer groups. The participants were 296 children (161 boys and 135 girls; mean age?=?11.5 years) from Tianjin, China. Multi-informant assessments (peer nominations, teacher ratings, and self-reports) of peer victimization, aggression, submissiveness-withdrawal, assertiveness-prosociability, and academic functioning were obtained. Structural equation models indicated that peer victimization was associated with poor academic functioning, submissive-withdrawn behavior, aggression, and low levels of assertive-prosocial behavior. These findings suggest that there is considerable similarity in the social processes underlying peer group victimization across Chinese and Western cultural settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stability and consequences of young children's same-sex peer interactions.

This article addresses whether young children's play-partner choices are stable over time and how these choices influence behavior. Sixty-one children (28 boys and 33 girls; mean age?=?53 months) were observed over 6 months, and type of play behavior and sex of play partners were recorded. Children's partner preferences were highly sex differentiated and stable over time, especially when larger aggregates of data were used. Two types of consequences were identified: a binary effect that influenced differences between the sexes and a social dosage effect that influenced variations within the sexes. The binary effect reflected a pattern in which the more both girls and boys played with same-sex partners, the more their behavior became sex differentiated. The social dosage effect reflected a pattern in which variations in levels of same-sex play in the fall contributed significantly to variations in the spring above initial levels of the target behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's evaluations of exclusion in gender-stereotypic peer contexts.

This study investigated how 50 preschool children (25 girls, 25 boys) evaluated the appropriateness of excluding boys and girls from two types of activities (doll play, truck play) and two types of future roles (playing a teacher, playing a firefighter) across different exclusion contexts. Children judged straight-forward exclusion from activities on the basis of gender as wrong, even if the child's gender was stereotypical of the activity. Furthermore, they justified these decisions on the basis of moral reasons, such as equality and unfairness. Children used a mixture of moral and social conventional reasoning (including stereotypes), however, to evaluate multifaceted situations that called for judgments about both inclusion and exclusion and that included information about the children's past experience with the activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of experience in judging children's photographs.

3 groups of Ss—undergraduates, parents, professional psychologists—ranked photographs of 10 children on intelligence, sociability, activity, sensitivity, and mental health. In comparison with a child psychologist who had observed the children over a 2-year period, Ss, as groups, made consistent judgments of intelligence, sociability, and health; but, as individuals, their judgments were of low validity. Judgments of children's photographs are not related to practical experience or to professional training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual determinants of mothers' interventions in young children's peer interactions.

In this study, the role of context in mothers' interventions in their preschool children's peer relationship problems was investigated. Event theme (aggression, peer rebuff, or initiating play), the child's role in the event (actor or target), the child's age and sex, and the mother's emotional reaction were examined as predictors of the extent to which mothers (N = 71) said they would discuss peer relationships, encourage peer interaction, and use power assertion in response to a series of videotaped vignettes depicting common peer relationship problems. Mothers suggested using more discussion in aggressive situations and more encouragement in initiating play situations. Mothers said they would use more power assertion when the child was the actor (i.e., provocateur), rather than the target, in an aggressive situation. Findings are discussed in terms of (a) the importance of considering context in understanding how mothers intervene in their children's peer relationships and (b) the need to examine moderators of cross-contextual consistency in mothers' interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring children's aggression with teachers' predictions of peer nominations.

Peer nominations have been used very successfully to assess aggressive dispositions in children but are costly to administer in situations in which a subject population is scattered among many classrooms. In the present study, the authors evaluated an alternative measure, the Teacher Prediction of Peer-Nominated Aggression. This measure proved to be highly reliable and valid—a better predictor of peer nominations of aggression than teacher checklist ratings of aggression. The teachers' predictions of peer-nominated aggression also displayed the same pattern of interrelations and gender differences as actual peer nominations of aggression. Finally, the teachers' predictions of aggression were more accurate than their predictions of other behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of peer presence on preschool children's television-viewing behavior.

Observed 299 3- and 5-yr-olds watching TV in the presence of an audiovisual slide distractor in groups of 1, 2, or 3 viewers. Peers viewing the TV together influenced each other's behavior in a synchronized fashion: When one looked at the TV, looked at the distractor, or demonstrated overt involvement with the TV, the other tended to do the same thing. This peer influence occurred above and beyond the dynamic common organizing influence of the TV program itself. There was little evidence that a given S consistently "led" another, nor were there effects of same-sex vs cross-sex pairings of viewers. The watching of TV by young children is interpreted in the results as an active transactional process among the viewer, the TV, and the TV-viewing environment. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familiarity and children's behavior in same-age and mixed-age peer groups.

Investigated the hypothesis that differences in children's behavior in same- and mixed-age peer groups found in previous research (e.g., J. Goldman, 1981) were an artifact of different degrees of familiarity or acquaintanceship between group members. 144 previously unacquainted 1st- and 3rd-grade children were assigned to same- and mixed-age triads, and their performance at a tower building task was assessed. Following this baseline measurement, triads were randomly assigned to conditions where familiarization with teammates was manipulated, and then task performance was reassessed. The mixed-age effects found in previous research were replicated, and some of the differences found between same- and mixed-age interaction decreased when older Ss became familiar with their younger teammates. Possible mechanisms underlying mixed-age interaction are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups.

In Study 1, a teacher-rating instrument was developed to assess these behaviors in elementary school children (N?=?259). Reactive and proactive scales were found to be internally consistent, and factor analyses partially supported convergent and discriminant validities. In Study 2, behavioral correlates of these forms of aggression were examined through assessments by peers (N?=?339). Both types of aggression related to social rejection, but only proactively aggressive boys were also viewed as leaders and as having a sense of humor. In Study 3, we hypothesized that reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) would occur as a function of hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits. Four groups of socially rejected boys (reactive aggressive, proactive aggressive, reactive-proactive aggressive, and nonaggressive) and a group of average boys were presented with a series of hypothetical videorecorded vignettes depicting provocations by peers and were asked to interpret the intentions of the provocateur (N?=?117). Only the two reactive-aggressive groups displayed biases and deficits in interpretations. In Study 4, attributional biases and deficits were found to be positively correlated with the rate of reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) displayed in free play with peers (N?=?127). These studies supported the hypothesis that attributional biases and deficits are related to reactive aggression but not to proactive aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

History of peer victimization and children's response to school bullying.

We examined the degree to which children with and without a history of stable peer victimization differentially endorse strategies for dealing with school bullies. Participants were 323 children, 58 of whom met criteria for chronic peer victimization. Children with a history of stable peer victimization differed from comparison children in how they rated various strategies, but the findings were gender specific. Chronically bullied girls were less inclined to endorse any strategy (coercive or noncoercive), whereas chronically bullied boys generally endorsed adult-recommended strategies. However, strategy endorsement for boys was associated with greater levels of peer victimization in the following grade. Discussed is the complex role of interpersonal strategies in affecting change in bullied children's victimization experiences and the implications for intervening on behalf of chronically bullied children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structure of peer impressions of children's competence: Validation of the peer nomination of multiple competencies.

A peer-nomination assessment of 5 domains of children's competencies (scholastic competence, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical attractiveness, and behavioral conduct) was administered to 1,249 elementary school students (aged 9–12 yrs). Factor analysis revealed 2 positive factors and 2 negative factors. The negative factors differed notably in content from girls to boys. Evidence of convergent validity was derived from the regression of these factors onto teachers' ratings and children's self-reports. Evidence of construct validity emerged from regressions between these factors and self-reported depression, hopelessness, loneliness, and misbehavior. Results revealed the structure of peers' perceptions of children's competence and justified the use of the Peer Nomination of Multiple Competencies to complement self-report, teacher rating, standardized test, and behavioral observation measures of children's competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of adult and peer collaborators on children's planning skills.

Examined the effects of collaboration with an adult or a peer on children's independent errand planning. 32 adult–child and peer dyads involving 9- to 10-year-old children worked collaboratively on errand planning tasks, followed by an individual posttest. There was more use of sophisticated planning methods, greater involvement of children in such methods, and more frequent communication of planning strategies in adult–child than in peer dyads. On the individual posttest, children from adult–child dyads produced more efficient plans than target children from peer dyads. Sophistication of planning and communication of strategies during collaborative trials correlated, as did the extent of joint decision making, with children's posttest performance. The study suggests that adult guidance is more effective than peer collaboration in children's acquisition of errand planning skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of preschool children's (Homo sapiens) uses of objects and their role in peer group centrality.

The ways in which objects were used by preschool children (Homo sapiens) was examined by directly observing them across one school year. In the first objective we documented the relative occurrence of different forms of object use and their developmental growth curves. Second, we examined the role of different types of object use, as well as novel and varied uses of objects, in predicting peer group centrality. Results indicated that noninstrumental object play was the most frequently observed category, followed by tool use, exploration, and construction; sex moderated the growth curve of children's exploration. Noninstrumental object play, not other types of object use, was significantly related to novel and varied object uses and only the latter category predicted peer group centrality. Results are discussed in terms of the social transmission of novel object use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of intentional forgetting in reducing children's retroactive interference.

Preschool and kindergarten children's retention of stories was examined in the presence of interfering information and instructions to forget. Children learned 2 stories and, 24 hr later, were asked to recall the 1st or 2nd story learned. Some of the children were instructed, either following acquisition or just prior to the retention test to forget the 2nd, or interfering, story. A model was used to isolate storage and retrieval effects, and the results showed that (a) retroactive interference affected both storage- and retrieval-based forgetting rates for the younger children but only storage-based forgetting rates for the older children, (b) intentional forgetting reduced retroactive interference primarily by attenuating storage-based forgetting regardless of age, (c) intentional forgetting instructions were effective only at acquisition for preschoolers but at both acquisition and retention for kindergarteners, and (d) all children recalled the to-be-forgotten story as well as they recalled the to-be-remembered story. These results are interpreted in terms of reorganization and distinctiveness effects in storage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Korean children's concepts of adult and peer authority and moral reasoning.

This study examined Korean children's judgments about authority commands regarding moral events bearing on property rights (dealing with lost property), distributive justice (sharing candy), and public welfare (disposing of trash). Sixty children from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades were presented with story variations in which an individual intervened, giving a command to children, or in which 2 different persons gave opposing commands. At all ages, children judged that a principal, a teacher, a class president, and a child who held no position of authority have legitimacy and should be obeyed when giving directives considered morally right. Children also accorded greater legitimacy to persons giving commands consistent with moral demands (a teacher, a class president, or a child with no position of authority) over a principal's command contrary to the moral evaluation. Justifications for their choices were based on rights, sharing, and welfare. The findings showed that Korean children do not take a unilateral orientation to adult authorities or unquestioningly accept authority directives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development: The case of children's motivation in school.

Examined the role of natural peer-group selection and socialization processes in children's school motivation. At the beginning of the school year, self- and teacher reports of classroom engagement were obtained for 109 students in 2 4th- and 2 5th-grade classrooms. On the basis of interviews with 57 students, composite maps of the social networks in these classrooms were constructed, which were found to be reliable across reporters and composed of children with similar motivational orientations. Longitudinal analyses of a 4th-grade classroom across the school year indicated continuity in the motivational composition of peer groups, despite considerable changes in individual memberships. Evidence was found for motivationally based group selection across time and for group socialization of individuals' engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of marital discord on young children's peer interaction and health.

Reports an investigation of the effects of marital discord on the peer interactions and physical health of preschool children. A sample of families that ranged widely in marital satisfaction and had a 4- to 5-yr-old child participated in several home and laboratory sessions involving marital, parent-child, and peer (with a best friend) interaction. Obtained observational, self-report, and physiological indices. Hypothesized that the ability to regulate emotion would be disrupted in children from maritally distressed homes and that this would result in poor child outcomes. Found support for a path-analytic model correlating the child outcomes of the child's level of play, negative peer interaction, and physical health, using marital satisfaction, the parents' physiology during marital interaction, observations of parent–child interaction, the child's physiology during parent–child interaction, indices of emotion during the directed facial action task, and urinary assays of catecholamine endocrine variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)