Strategies for the Study of Individual Development within Naturally-Existing Peer Groups*

The investigation of peer influences on children's development in natural settings rests squarely on appropriate methods to identify those individuals who are influential for a given child. Traditional methods of sociometric ratings or assessments of friendship choices are not intended to identify reciprocal influences in children's peer groups of social interrelationships. In the study of networks within sociology, researchers have focused on the structural properties of children's networks, instead of the psychologically meaningful characteristics of the children who comprise a target child's network. To complement these strategies, a method is presented that can reliably identify those individuals who constitute children's natural peer groups in a setting. This information is used to form composite maps that represent the psychological peer context of a given child. Strategies are outlined for analyzing processes of group selection and socialization among developing individuals and their changing peer contexts.     

Identifying Children's Peer Social Networks in School Classrooms: Links Between Peer Reports and Observed Interactions

Links between peer reports of social cluster membership and observed classroom interactions were examined in a sample of 72 children in 4^th grade and 7^th grade. All participating children in each classroom identified as many social clusters in the classroom as they could recall. Using the social‐cognitive map (SCM) procedure, these individual reports were aggregated to summarize the number of times a given child was nominated as being in the same social cluster as each of his or her classmates (i.e., a co‐nomination profile) and to identify the classmates in each child's social cluster. Extensive classroom observations allowed for a parallel summary of the number of times a given child was observed to interact with each of his or her classmates (i.e., an interaction profile). Results indicated that correlations between conomination profiles and interaction profiles were positive and statistically reliable. Children were observed to interact with members of their SCM‐identified social cluster at a rate four times higher than with other same‐sex classmates. These effects did not vary reliably by grade, sex or aggressive risk status.     

Social Competence with Peers in Third Grade: Associations with Earlier Peer Experiences in Childcare1

The early developmental antecedents of individual differences in children's social functioning with peers in third grade were examined using longitudinal data from the large‐scale National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of early child care. In a sample of 1,364 children, with family and child factors controlled, the frequency of positive and negative peer interactions in childcare between 24 and 54 months and the number of hours spent in childcare peer groups of different sizes (alone, dyad, small, medium, large) predicted third graders' peer competence at three levels of analysis: individual social skills, dyadic friendships, and peer‐group acceptance. Children who had more positive experiences with peers in childcare had better social and communicative skills with peers in third grade, were more sociable and co‐operative and less aggressive, had more close friends, and were more accepted and popular. Children with more frequent negative experiences with peers in childcare were more aggressive in third grade, had lower social and communicative skills, and reported having fewer friends. When children spent more time in small‐sized peer groups in childcare (four or fewer children at 24 months of age up to seven or fewer at 54 months), they were more sociable and co‐operative in third grade, but their teachers rated them as more aggressive, suggesting that such children may be more socially outgoing and active both positively and negatively. Like those who spent more time in small peer groups, children who spent more hours in medium‐sized groups received higher ratings for peer aggression by their third‐grade teachers. Children who spent more time with one other child in childcare or in small peer groups had fewer classroom friends in third grade as reported by the teacher but not according to maternal report or self‐report. There were no significant associations between the amount of time children spent in large childcare‐based peer groups and third‐grade peer social competence.     

Social Networks and Self Enhancement in Chinese Children: A Comparison of Self Reports and Peer Reports of Group Membership*

Children's self reports of social groups were compared with the social groups identified by a consensus judgment of their peers. The subjects were 138 Chinese 4th grade students (mean age = 9.91) from a primary school and 167 Chinese 7th grade students (mean age = 13.09) from a secondary school, both located in Hong Kong. Following the Social Cognitive Map (SCM) procedure, students were asked to identify the social groups within their grades, including their own groups. The subjects also rated themselves on multiple domains of competence. Their teachers rated them on the same domains. Subjects tended to be biased toward self-enhancement when reporting their own groups: They omitted members who had low school scholastic rank and unfavorable scores on teacher ratings of competence. There was a strong effect of propinquity and gender on group membership, in that all groups were comprised of children from the same classroom and virtually all (98%) of the same sex. Members scored similarly on teacher ratings of competence. In elementary school, conventional values and academic achievement provided the behavioral bases for peer group cohesion. By early adolescence, peer-related concerns supplemented rather than replaced conventional values as the bases for group cohesion.     

Teacher Reports of Children's Friendships and Social Groups: Agreement with Peer Reports and Implications for Studying Peer Similarity

Teacher–peer agreement about children’s friendships and social group affiliations was examined in a sample of 219 children in grades 1, 3, and 5. Peer reports were used to identify reciprocated friendships and informal social groups. Teachers listed each child’s closest friends and described the informal social groups existing in their classrooms. Teachers also rated children’s externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation and provided direct ratings of the externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation of children’s friends. Teacher–peer agreement was reliable for friendships and social groups and was stronger in the upper elementary grades. Estimates of peer similarity were highest when teachers provided global ratings of the behaviors of the children’s friends. Results suggest that teacher reports of children’s peer affiliations have some validity but result in inflated estimates of peer similarity.     

The Relations among Theory of Mind,Behavioral Inhibition,and Peer Interactions in Early Childhood

The current study examined relations among child temperament, peer interaction, and theory of mind (ToM) development. We hypothesized that: (1) children classified as behaviorally inhibited at 24 months would show less ToM understanding at 36 months in comparison to nonbehaviorally inhibited children; (2) children who displayed negative peer interaction behaviors in a peer dyadic interaction at 24 months would exhibit less ToM understanding at 36 months; and (3) behavioral inhibition (BI) and the degree of negative behaviors during a peer interaction would jointly influence ToM development, such that children with both heightened BI and negative peer interaction behaviors would exhibit worse ToM performance than behaviorally inhibited children who did not display negative social behaviors. Both BI and negative peer interaction behaviors were associated with passing fewer ToM tasks. The data revealed that children high in both BI and negative peer interaction behaviors passed fewer ToM tasks at 36 months of age than those high in BI and low in negative peer interactions or those low in BI.     

Positive Peer Relationships and Risk of Victimization in Chinese and South Korean Children's Peer Groups

This study examined the moderating role of positive peer relationships in the relation between behavioral or academic risk factors and victimization in Asian children's peer groups. We recruited 296 children (161 boys, 135 girls) from Tianjin, China (mean age of 11.5 years) and 122 children (66 boys, 56 girls) from Seoul, South Korea (approximate mean age of 11 years). The children's behavioral, academic and social functioning were assessed with a multi‐informant approach. Their behavioral and academic vulnerabilities were associated with their victimization by peers. However, these effects were mitigated for children who were able to establish positive relationships with their peers. Taken together, our findings highlight the potential buffering role of peer relationships in the cultural contexts examined.     

Entering a New Peer Group in Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Childcare Classrooms

This short‐term longitudinal study examined changes over time in social competence with peers as a function of child and classroom characteristics. One hundred and seventy ethnically diverse low‐income children, all new to their peer groups, entered childcare classrooms with heterogeneous entry policies and ethnic/racial compositions. We observed them with their teachers and peers at entry and again six months later. Observers rated aggressive, anxious/withdrawn, and prosocial behavior with peers and observed complexity of peer play. Children who lacked peers with a shared ethnic heritage and children who spoke a different language at home than the language most often used in the classrooms appeared to be struggling with peer interaction six months after entry into the peer group. Children who had a peer who shared their ethnic heritage and entered the most ethnically diverse classrooms increased their complex peer play more than other children.     

Longing to belong: children in residential care and their experiences of peer relationships at school and in the children's home

Resilience literature has stressed the potential of both children's educational experiences and their friendships to act as protective factors against adversity. However, less is known about how children living with adversity navigate these ‘everyday’ aspects of social terrain and the particular challenges that they face. This paper explores the meaning and experience of peer relationships to one group of children living in residential care in Ireland. Drawing on a larger study of school and care, it explores data gathered from 16 children, aged 8 to 18, who were living in eight different children's homes on the east coast of Ireland. The findings suggest that the children were acutely aware of their ‘care’ status and developed a number of strategies to manage this identity in school. It appears that more often than not, children described being left to their own devises to manage friendships and peer relationships. Thus, despite being a crucial source of both stress and support, peer relationships did not appear to be regarded as an issue that adults should be involved with. This raises questions for practice about what children should be supported with and the way in which peer relationships are potentially overlooked by social work, residential and school staff.     

Pathways between Parent–Child Interactions and Peer Acceptance: The Role of Children's Social Information Processing

This study examined the links among parents' interaction styles, their children's social information processing, and peer acceptance. Fourth‐grade children (N = 159) and their parents were observed during family discussions. One year later peer acceptance and children's information processing choices (goals, strategies, and attributions) in response to social dilemmas involving their parents and peers were assessed. Fathers' interaction styles with their children predicted both girls' and boys' information processing in regard to their fathers and peers, which, in turn, were related to peer acceptance. Mothers' interactive styles with their children predicted children's social information processing in regard to parents and peers and peer acceptance in similar ways, but only for girls. This study provided evidence that parent–child interaction is linked to children's information processing concerning their relationships with parents and peers and in turn with children being liked by peers. The implications of a social information processing approach for understanding family–peer links are emphasized.     

Peer Group Affiliation of Children: The Role of Perceived Popularity,Likeability, and Behavioral Similarity in Bullying

To understand children's peer group affiliation, this study examined to what extent children in naturally occurring groups resemble each other on bullying, likeability, and perceived popularity. Participants were fourth‐ to sixth‐grade pupils (N = 461). Peer groups were identified using the social cognitive map procedure. Resemblance on bullying, likeability, and perceived popularity was evaluated by means of variance components models. Resemblance in peer groups was strongest for perceived popularity, followed by bullying and likeability. Moreover, resemblance on bullying could for a large part be attributed to the high‐perceived popularity of the group, and to a lesser extent, to the low likeability of the group. It is concluded that children showing bullying seem to affiliate with each other most of all to attain or maintain their position in a perceived popular peer group. Results stress the importance of considering the functionality of bullying from a group perspective.     

Affiliative Structures in Preschool Peer Groups.

Changes in affiliative organization of 15 age-graded toddler and preschool play groups were examined in terms of assessed similarity in patterns of playmate association. Measures of peer association were derived from direct observation of social interaction during free play. The degree of between subject similarity in association profiles was derived using complete linkage hierarchical clustering procedures. Findings revealed distinct social subgroups in all social groups. Secondary analyses showed a linear increase in the size of affiliative subgroups as a function of age. Measures of interactive reciprocity within social subgroups suggested progressive consolidation of affiliative structures with age. Among older children, membership within affiliative subgroups was associated with more frequent preferences for subgroup members. Findings are discussed in terms of how children's insertion within the affiliative network of their peer group constrain socialization of their behavior and provide specific experiences that serve as contexts for the construction of more intimate interpersonal relationships.     

Influences on the effectiveness of peer interaction: children's level of cognitive development and the relative ability of partners

Studies of peer interaction among children have generally shown that this experience aids performance, or at the very least does not result in poorer performance in relation to control conditions. Furthermore, working with a more able partner has been found to be a particularly effective form of peer interaction. In contrast, a model proposed by Karmiloff-Smith suggests that at certain phases of cognitive development children may ignore feedback and information from task activities. These two ideas were tested in a study where pairs of 6–7 year old children had to balance a beam on a fulcrum during a computer task. The performance on a post-test did not support either viewpoint. Children who were working with a more able partner were found to perform significantly worse than other children. The findings of a second study suggested that this effect may have been due to the more able children having an incomplete understanding of the computer task and they may have dominated social interaction thereby restricting the progress of the less able pupil. The findings from these two studies indicate that peer interaction can result in poorer learning outcomes, and that Karmiloff-Smith's model should include the possibility of peer interaction effects.     

Training foster carers in challenging behaviour: a case study in disappointment?

This paper sets out key features of a semi‐experimental investigation conducted between March 1999 and April 2001 into the impact of training foster carers in techniques to manage challenging behaviour. We identified a sample of children (n = 103) in foster care in four authorities in South Wales who were selected by a checklist as showing behaviours that could be defined as challenging. From this search procedure we identified their foster carers (n = 106) and created a training intervention group for 53 carers looking after 49 children and a non‐intervention comparison group of 53 carers looking after 54 children. Both groups of carers were interviewed using a range of measures before and after the delivery of the training in order to identify any changes they perceived in the conduct of children and changes they perceived in their own capacities as carers. The training was delivered in small groups and evaluative feedback was gathered from carers and from training officers in those agencies that participated in the study. The results suggested that training, as designed and delivered in this study, had limited impact on child conduct and carer capacity. The reasons for this are discussed in light of selected findings. We spend some time on describing our methods in order to expose our approach to the critical scrutiny of readers, whose views would be welcome as we make our future research plans in this field.     

Information-seeking during acquaintanceship: Effects of level of social understanding and personal relevance

Two studies examined how individual differences in social understanding influence children's information-seeking orientations during an initial meeting with a peer, in which they do or do not anticipate future interaction. Study 1 involved a relatively controlled, laboratory setting in which 7-9 year old children were presented a list of questions from which to choose what to ask the peer. The findings indicate that children who view a person's behavior in terms of stable dispositional characteristics (high SDC), express greater interest in gathering trait-related information about an unfamiliar peer than children who do not perceive people in terms of stable traits (low SDC), but only when they expect to play games with that peer in a future interaction. Study 2 involved a more naturalistic observation of the actual questions 7-9 year old children ask during an initial meeting with an unfamiliar peer. The findings showed that high SDC children asked more questions of the peer when they expected interaction than when they did not, whereas low SDC children did not differ significantly across conditions. Taken together, the two studies indicate that the future, predictability orientation of high SDC children leads to a more extensive information search about a peer when they expect interaction with that peer involving instrumental choices.     

What makes children defy their peers? Chinese and Spanish preschoolers' decisions to trust (or not) peer consensus

The more people agree on the same piece of information, the more likely are individuals to endorse the testimonial information. Children are sensitive to consensus but their trust in what a majority says also depends on the decision context, their previous knowledge, and, interestingly, the culture in which they develop. Here we study Chinese (N = 60) and Spanish (N = 48) preschoolers' sensitivity to the opinion of a group of peers in consensus regarding (a) peer interaction events and (b) use of artifacts. For each context, we varied the degree of ambiguity of the situations: unfamiliar, ambiguous, and familiar, where the majority offered a transgressive opinion in conflict with “common sense.” Children were more likely to trust their peers in the unfamiliar and ambiguous situations. In the familiar situations, children showed greater acceptance of transgressive claims regarding artifacts than peer interaction events. The two cultural groups, however, significantly differed in the degree of endorsement. Although Chinese children gave little credibility to their peers even when facing novel information, Spaniards deferred to them, even at the expense of their own criteria. Together with previous findings, these results indicate culture‐specific patterns related to children's attitudes toward peers versus adults as sources of knowledge.     

Good Friendships among Children: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation

Ethical dimensions of friendship have rarely been explicitly addressed as aspects of friendship quality in studies of children's peer relationships. This study identifies aspects of moral virtue significant for friendship, as a basis for empirically investigating the role of ethical qualities in children's friendship assessments and aspirations. We introduce a eudaimonic conception of friendship quality, identify aspects of moral virtue foundational to such quality, review and contest some grounds on which children have been regarded as not mature enough to have friendships that require virtue, and report a qualitative study of the friendship assessments and aspirations of children aged nine and ten (n = 83). In focus group sessions conducted in ten schools across Great Britain, moral qualities figured prominently in children's assessments of friendship quality. The findings provide evidence of children having friendships exhibiting mutual respect, support, and valuing of each other's good character.     

The Social Cognitions of Socially Withdrawn Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the social cognitions of peer‐identified socially withdrawn children. Participants included 457 children from grades four, five and six (54% females, 46% males). Children completed a selection of self‐ and peer‐report measures including: (1) peer‐rated behavioral nominations; (2) hostile intent biases and social responses to ambiguous situations; (3) social goals and self‐efficacy; and (4) a newly developed measure of causal attributions. An extreme groups procedure was used to identify three groups of children: (1) socially withdrawn (n=50); (2) aggressive (n=53); and (3) a comparison group (n=206). As compared with their peers, withdrawn children displayed a pattern of self‐defeating attributions for social situations, reported lower efficacy for assertive goals, and indicated a preference for non‐assertive, withdrawn strategies to deal with hypothetical conflict situations. Findings are discussed with respect to implications for interventions, and directions for further research are presented.     

Associations between sleep consolidation in infancy and peer relationships in middle childhood

Sleep plays an important role in many aspects of children's development. Research on children's sleep and their peer relationships has begun to emerge in the last years. However, these studies are mostly cross‐sectional. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between infant sleep and peer relationships in middle childhood. The sample comprised 72 children. Sleep was measured at 1 year using a sleep diary completed by mothers. In the second and third grades of elementary school (7 and 8 years of age), mothers and fathers reported on their children's functioning with peers. When they were in third grade, children were interviewed regarding their friendship quality with a best friend. Results revealed negative associations between children's sleep consolidation (i.e., ratio of nighttime sleep) and parent‐reported peer problems, and positive associations between sleep consolidation and perceived friendship quality. These findings suggest that well‐regulated sleep in infancy may help children develop the skills necessary for later appropriate social functioning in peer contexts.     

The Role of Child Characteristics and Peer Experiences in the Development of Peer Cooperation

Cooperation with peers is challenging for young children, and there are large individual differences in the development of cooperation. The roles of child characteristics and peer experiences for peer interaction during free play have been studied extensively, but it is unclear which factors predict young children's successful cooperation at different points in development. In this study, 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐year‐old children were observed during a peer cooperation task. Both their interactive behavior and cooperation success were examined, and the association of these variables with child characteristics and peer experiences was explored. Results showed that successful peer cooperation increased with age. Moreover, early individual differences in peer cooperation were related to temperamental characteristics, and, among older children, the rate of cooperation was related to prior peer experience.