Illuminating the landscape of sibling relationship quality: An evidence and gap map

This paper used an evidence and gap map (EGM) to advance the scientific understanding of sibling relationship quality among children aged 2 to 18 years by synthesizing literature on 277 empirical studies from 1985 to 2022 to delineate patterns of study design, sampling, and measurement. Most existing research has utilized majority of White, middle-to-upper class, and/or two-caregiver family samples. Nearly 85% (n = 235) of studies used quantitative methods to measure sibling relationship quality across eight domains: conflict, warmth/affection, quality, cohesion, hostility, power/control, positive engagement, and conflict management. A total of 122 studies used a measure of sibling relationship quality as a predictor of sibling behavior, social, psychological, cognitive, health, or physiological outcomes. Future directions for research are discussed.

How 2- and 4-year-old children coordinate social interactions with peers

The Interaction Engine Hypothesis postulates that humans have a unique ability and motivation for social interaction. A crucial juncture in the ontogeny of the interaction engine could be around 2-4 years of age, but observational studies of children in natural contexts are limited. These data appear critical also for comparison with non-human primates. Here, we report on focal observations on 31 children aged 2- and 4-years old in four preschools (10 h per child). Children interact with a wide range of partners, many infrequently, but with one or two close friends. Four-year olds engage in cooperative social interactions more often than 2-year olds and fight less than 2-year olds. Conversations and playing with objects are the most frequent social interaction types in both age groups. Children engage in social interactions with peers frequently (on average 13 distinct social interactions per hour) and briefly (28 s on average) and shorter than those of great apes in comparable studies. Their social interactions feature entry and exit phases about two-thirds of the time, less frequently than great apes. The results support the Interaction Engine Hypothesis, as young children manifest a remarkable motivation and ability for fast-paced interactions with multiple partners. This article is part of the theme issue 'Revisiting the human 'interaction engine': comparative approaches to social action coordination'.

Temporal approaches to the study of friendship: Understanding the developmental significance of friendship change during childhood and adolescence

With longitudinal studies and recently-developed analyses that can model change, it has become increasingly clear that many types of peer experiences during childhood and adolescence are not static. Instead, such experiences change in numerous ways over time, with significant developmental implications. Most of this recent work, however, has focused on change and stability in group-level peer experiences such as peer victimization, peer exclusion, and popularity. As a result, less is known about the extent to which change occurs, and the developmental significance of such changes, in youths' dyadic-level peer experiences and specifically their friendships. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to illustrate the importance of studying friendship change during childhood and adolescence. To do so, we first review the literature on friendship, in general, and then that pertaining to friendship instability and friendship loss, two related areas of friendship change research that have received some theoretical and empirical attention. We introduce a new friendship development model, and informed by this model, encourage peer relations researchers to consider other types of change in friendships. The concluding sections concentrate on the importance of learning more about friendship change for intervention and prevention efforts with youth.

The Interchangeability of Liking and Friend Nominations to Measure Peer Acceptance and Friendship

Two studies examine the convergence between measures of friendship and measures of liking in the assessment of friendship and peer acceptance. In the first study, 551 (301 boys and 250 girls) Canadian primary school children (ages 8 to 11) nominated friends and liked-most classmates. In the second study, 282 (127 boys and 155 girls) U.S. primary school children (ages 9 to 11) nominated friends and rated classmates on a sociometric preference scale. The results revealed considerable convergence in the assessment of friendship. Most 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked friends were also nominated and rated as liked-peers, suggesting that when measures of liking are used to identify friends, few top-ranked friendships are overlooked. There was less convergence in assessments of peer acceptance. Peer acceptance scores derived from friend nominations were more strongly correlated with peer acceptance scores derived from liking nominations than with those derived from sociometric preference ratings. We conclude that liking nominations accurately capture friendships, particularly best friendships. Friend nominations may be a suitable substitute for assessments of liking, but they are a poor substitute for assessments of sociometric preference.

Peer relations and friendships in early childhood: The association with peer victimization

We examined the association between involvement in peer victimization in early childhood and different measures of peer relations to examine the role of the peer group in victimization with a special focus on the role of the aggressor, defender, and target. Children (N = 200; 45.5% girls) and teachers (N = 8; 100% women) were recruited from three primary schools in the south‐east of England. Children were aged 5−7 years (M = 75.6 months, SD = 10.39). Child and teacher reports of children's friendships were obtained. Children reported on the quality of their best friendship. Children provided peer reports on involvement in peer victimization (as aggressor, defender, and target) and social status (like‐most and like‐least). Results show that aggressive children received more like‐least nominations than other children, defenders were the most liked by peers, but targets' social status was not clearly identifiable. There were no significant differences between role in peer victimization and best friend nominations—most children said that they had a best friend. Similarly, there were no differences in reciprocated friendship between different roles. However, children who had their friendship reciprocated received more defender nominations. In line with the homophily hypothesis, aggressive children tended to have aggressive friends and have friendships characterized by conflict. Defenders were friends with other defenders. Targets tended to follow the social competence model of friendships by indicating defenders as their best friends. We discuss these findings in relation to the role that group processes may play in peer victimization in early childhood.

To Punish or to Restore: How Children Evaluate Victims' Responses to Immorality

Punishment is important for deterring transgressions and maintaining cooperation, while restoration is also an effective way to resolve conflicts and undo harm. Which way do children prefer when evaluating others' reactions to immorality? Across four experiments, Chinese preschoolers (aged 4–6, n = 184) evaluated victims' different reactions to possession violations (i.e., punishing the perpetrator or restoring the belongings). Children evaluated restorative reactions more positively than punitive ones. This tendency to favor restoration over punishment was influenced by the degree of punishment, with more pronounced patterns observed when punishment was harsher (Experiments 1–3). Indeed, when different degrees of punishment were directly contrasted (Experiment 4), children viewed victims who imposed milder punishment (“steal one object, remove one or two objects”) more positively than those who imposed harsh punishment (“steal one object, remove three objects”). These patterns were especially manifested in preschoolers who chose restoration when being put in the victim's situation, suggesting a consistency between evaluations and behaviors. Taken together, the current study showed that children prioritize protecting the victim over harshly punishing the perpetrator, which suggests an early take on the preferred way to uphold justice.

Validation of continuous measures of peer social interaction with self- and teacher-reports of friendship and social engagement

The present study validates a new procedure that combines continuous measures of proximity (Ubisense) and vocalization (LENA) into measures of peer social interaction. The data were collected from 4 boys and 5 girls (ages 2-3 at the outset) on 8 separate days (3-4 hours per day) over the course of an academic year. Teacher reports of friendship were positively correlated with continuous measures of dyadic social interaction (i.e., the amount of time two children spent in proximity to one another, talking). Self-reports of reciprocated friendship were marginally correlated with continuous measures of dyadic social interaction, but only in the spring semester (when children were older and their reports of friendship more reliable). At the individual level, peer nominations of likeability, and teacher ratings of sociability and withdrawal were correlated with continuous measures of social interaction (i.e., the amount of time a child spent in proximity to other children, talking).

Exploring the Effects of a Social Robot's Speech Entrainment and Backstory on Young Children's Emotion, Rapport, Relationship, and Learning

In positive human-human relationships, people frequently mirror or mimic each other's behavior. This mimicry, also called entrainment, is associated with rapport and smoother social interaction. Because rapport in learning scenarios has been shown to lead to improved learning outcomes, we examined whether enabling a social robotic learning companion to perform rapport-building behaviors could improve children's learning and engagement during a storytelling activity. We enabled the social robot to perform two specific rapport and relationship-building behaviors: speech entrainment and self-disclosure (shared personal information in the form of a backstory about the robot's poor speech and hearing abilities). We recruited 86 children aged 3–8 years to interact with the robot in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental study testing the effects of robot entrainment Entrainment vs. No entrainment and backstory about abilities Backstory vs. No Backstory. The robot engaged the children one-on-one in conversation, told a story embedded with key vocabulary words, and asked children to retell the story. We measured children's recall of the key words and their emotions during the interaction, examined their story retellings, and asked children questions about their relationship with the robot. We found that the robot's entrainment led children to show more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions. Children who heard the robot's backstory were more likely to accept the robot's poor hearing abilities. Entrainment paired with backstory led children to use more of the key words and match more of the robot's phrases in their story retells. Furthermore, these children were more likely to consider the robot more human-like and were more likely to comply with one of the robot's requests. These results suggest that the robot's speech entrainment and backstory increased children's engagement and enjoyment in the interaction, improved their perception of the relationship, and contributed to children's success at retelling the story.

Continuous measurement of dynamic classroom social interactions

Human observations can only capture a portion of ongoing classroom social activity, and are not ideal for understanding how children’s interactions are spatially structured. Here we demonstrate how social interaction can be investigated by modeling automated continuous measurements of children’s location and movement using a commercial system based on radio frequency identification. Continuous location data were obtained from 16 five-year-olds observed during three 1-h classroom free play observations. Illustrative coordinate mapping indicated that boys and girls tended to cluster in different physical locations in the classroom, but there was no suggestion of gender differences in children’s velocity (i.e., speed of movement). To detect social interaction, we present the radial distribution function, an index of when children were in social contact at greater than chance levels. Rank-order plots indicated that children were in social contact tens to hundreds of times more with some peers than others. We illustrate the use of social ties (higher than average levels of social contact) to visualize the classroom network. Analysis of the network suggests that transitivity is a potential lens through which to examine male, female, and mixed-sex cliques. The illustrative findings suggest the validity of the new measurement approach by re-examining well-established gender segregation findings from a new perspective.

Friendships in middle childhood: Links to peer and school identification, and general self-worth

Children's friendships are important for well-being and school adjustment, but few studies have examined multiple indices of friendships together in middle childhood. The current study surveyed 7- to 11-year-olds (n = 314) about their friendships, best friendships, friendship quality and indices of self-worth, identification with peers, and identification with school. Peer relationships were positively related to self-worth, but not identification with peers or school. Best friendship quality moderated the relationship between number of reciprocated friendship nominations and self-worth. Children with a reciprocated best friend had higher friendship quality and peer identification than others. Where best friendship was reciprocated, the relationship with identification with peers was mediated via positive friendship quality. The results suggest that friendship reciprocity is particularly relevant for children's self-worth and identification with peers. The findings are discussed in relation to the importance of fostering the development of reciprocated friendships. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Friendships are related to well-being, school relations, and how young people feel about their peers at school. Friendship quality may be important in moderating the relationship between peer relations and adjustment. What does this study add? Various aspects of friendships are studied simultaneously with younger children than much previous research. Reciprocated best friendships were better quality than partial or non-reciprocated best friendships. Friendship reciprocity was most relevant for children's self-worth and peer identification.

Preschoolers' Social Behavior: Teachers' and Parents' Assessments

This study explored the use of a multi-rater social behavior scale with a diverse sample of preschoolers to test the influence of demographic, family status, and language ability variables on the rated frequency and functional importance of prosocial and problem behaviors. Major results from the teachers' ratings of behavior indicated (a) significant differences between boys and girls in that the average girl exhibited more prosocial behaviors and the average boy more problem behaviors; (b) significant differences for language ability; those preschoolers with excellent language ability showed more prosocial skills and fewer problem behaviors than did children with average or poor language; and (c) differences among families depending on the work status of mothers and fathers. The results of the parents' ratings indicated similar patterns as teachers and also suggested differences in social behavior between White and Black preschoolers. Although the overall perceptions of preschoolers' social behavior were similar as rated by parents and teachers, the correlation between their frequency and importance ratings on specific behavior items were moderately low at best. These data were interpreted to reinforce the practice of acquiring cross-informant ratings of preschoolers and to support the validity of the Social Skills Rating System.

Young Children in Intractable Conflicts

The article examines the political socialization of young Jewish-Israeli children who live under the Israeli–Palestinian intractable conflict. It proposes arguments and presents empirical evidence to suggest that the way in which political socialization of young children happens in this context contributes to the development of conflict-supporting narratives of ethos of conflict and collective memory by the youngest generation. As a result, the conflict solidifies adherence to these narratives in adulthood, thereby serving as a major obstacle to the processes of peace-making and peace-building. Specifically, as evidence for showing how the political socialization works in Israel, a series of studies conducted in Israeli kindergartens and elementary schools are presented. These studies recount the contents acquired by young children, as well as contents delivered by teachers, related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This indicates the serious consequences of acquiring conflict-supporting narratives at an early age in societies involved in intractable conflict.

Young Children's Conceptions of Transgressions with Friends and Nonfriends

The aim of this study was to investigate young children's conceptions of friendship and transgressions. A total of 48 preschool children were asked, in an interview, to cite reasons for their friendships and nonfriendships, to provide judgements and evaluations of transgressions involving friends and nonfriends, and to indicate preferences for conflict resolving strategies for friends and nonfriends. Results of interviews indicated that young children do make conceptual distinctions between friends and nonfriends in terms of judgements and justifications concerning transgressions. The overall pattern of results suggests that children are forming and utilising conceptions of friendship that are invoked when evaluating social transgressions in the preschool years.

The effects of conflict role and intensity on preschoolers’ expectations about peer conflict

Using a puppet procedure depicting hypothetical conflict involving the participant and a peer, 96 preschoolers’ (48 boys and 48 girls; M 1/4 5.14 years, SD 1/4 0.78 years) expectations about peer conflict were assessed as a function of their role in the conflict (i.e., initiator of or responder to initial provocation) and the intensity level of the conflict. Initiators of conflict expected less conflict escalation and subsequent problems with the same peer from the conflict than did responders, particularly following low-intensity conflict. Findings also indicated that, for low-intensity but not high-intensity conflict, girls expected the same peer to provoke them during a subsequent interaction more often than did boys. Results provide further support for assessing preschoolers’ understanding of conflict and are consistent with previous work demonstrating a self-serving bias in young children’s perceptions and reports of their conflicts with other children. Moreover, findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of peer relations.

Balancing Closeness and Individuality in Adolescent Close Relationships

A systemic perspective is adapted in this account of close friendships and romantic relationships in adolescence. Data from a series of studies conducted on dyads of close friends and romantic partners illustrate how, in each relationship, partners simultaneously negotiate closeness and the expression of individual needs. Two relational types—interdependent and disengaged—were consistently found across all adolescent age groups. Interdependent partners were clearly capable of co-operation. Disengaged partners, although they identified each other as closest friends, appeared incapable of restraining competition to act co-operatively. Differences between the two friendship types were evident at each developmental stage. A three-stage developmental model of adolescent friendship is proposed based on age-related issues as reflected in the two relational types.

Influences between Online–Exclusive, Conjoint and Offline–Exclusive Friendship Networks: The Moderating Role of Shyness

Prior research has indicated that shy adolescents are more motivated to form friendships online than to form friendships offline. Little is known about whether having friendships found exclusively online may impact self–esteem and forming offline friendships for these adolescents. This study therefore aimed to provide insight into the moderating role of shyness in the longitudinal interplay between friendships in online and offline contexts in early adolescence. Adolescents and their friends (193 girls, 196 boys; Mage = 13.29) were followed with three consecutive measurements with intervals of eight months. Results showed that particularly for shy adolescents, having friends exclusively online predicted increases in self–esteem. Self–esteem, in turn, was found to predict forming more friendships found both offline and online and forming more friendships found exclusively offline. Thus, findings supported the social compensation perspective that shy adolescents may benefit from having friends exclusively online, as these friendships may increase self–esteem, thereby facilitating the formation of friendships found partially and completely offline. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Relational aggression in middle childhood predicting adolescent social-psychological adjustment: the role of friendship quality

The present longitudinal study examined the indirect effect of 6th-grade negative friendship quality on the associations between 5th-grade relational aggression and age 15 social-psychological adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms and risky behavior). The study consisted of a secondary analysis of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development using 776 children (M = 10.42 years in 5th grade; 50.4% boys) from the original sample. Using teacher and self-report ratings, relational and physical aggression, friendship quality, depressive symptoms, and risky behavior were measured. Bootstrapping mediation analyses were conducted. Negative friendship quality was found to mediate the association between relational aggression and depressive symptoms as well as between relational aggression and risky behavior, when controlling for physical aggression, gender and age. This longitudinal study identifies possible developmental pathways by which relational aggression and future social psychological adjustment may be linked.

Early interactions with mother and peers independently build adult social skills and shape BDNF and oxytocin receptor brain levels

The early social environment has a profound impact on developmental trajectories. Although an impoverished early environment can undermine the acquisition of appropriate social skills, the specific role played by the different components of an individual's early environment in building social competencies has not been fully elucidated. Here we setup an asynchronous communal nesting paradigm in mice to disentangle the influence of maternal care and early peer interactions on adult social behavior and neural systems reportedly involved in the regulation of social interactions. The asynchronous communal nesting consists of three mothers giving birth three days apart, generating three groups of pups - the Old, the Middle and the Young - all raised in a single nest from birth to weaning. We scored the amount of maternal and peer interactions received by these mice and by a fourth group reared under standard conditions. At adulthood, the four experimental groups have been investigated for social behavior in a social interaction test, i.e. facing an unfamiliar conspecific during five 20-min daily encounters, and for oxytocin receptor and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Results show that only individuals exposed to high levels of both maternal and peer interactions demonstrated elaborate adult agonistic competencies, i.e. the ability to promptly display a social status, and high BDNF levels in the hippocampus, frontal cortex and hypothalamus. By contrast, only individuals exposed to high levels of peer interactions showed enhanced adult affiliative behavior and enhanced oxytocin receptor levels in selected nuclei of the amygdala. Overall these findings indicate that early interactions with mother and peers independently shape specific facets of adult social behavior and neural systems involved in social interaction.

Forgiveness and its determinants depending on the interpersonal context of hurt

Children and adolescents encounter different hurtful experiences in school settings. How these events are processed (e.g., whether they think that the transgressor was hostile) is likely to depend on the relationship with the transgressor. In this study, we examined how adolescents (58 girls and 35 boys, mean age=14.03 years, SD=0.60) dealt with the hurt caused by someone they liked or disliked. Our findings show that the hurt caused by a disliked transgressor is likely to lead to more negative cognitive (e.g., hostile attributions), affective (e.g., feelings of anger), and motivational (e.g., avoidance/revenge) outcomes than the hurt caused by a liked peer. In addition, we found that associations between cognitive processes and avoidance/revenge were mediated by feelings of anger, but only when the transgression occurred in the context of disliking. These results highlight the importance of studying how adolescents process hurtful experiences in different relational contexts.

Four children and one toy: Chinese and Canadian children faced with potential conflict over a limited resource

Quartets of Chinese (n=125) and Canadian (n=133) 7-year-old children were observed as they played with a single attractive toy. Chinese children exhibited more assertive and general rule bids, engaged in more spontaneous giving, and reacted more positively to assertions of others whereas Canadian children more frequently referred to norms of sharing. Evidence of cultural scripts for dealing with potential conflict, that is, sharing for Canadian children and hierarchical organization for Chinese children, emerged. Passive and reticent behaviors in Chinese children and assertion and object control by Canadian children were associated with group acceptance, results suggesting the meaning of these patterns of social behavior may differ in these two countries.

Peer-related social competence of young children with Down syndrome

The peer-related social competence of children with Down syndrome was examined in an observational study. Dyadic interactions with peers of children with Down syndrome were compared with the dyadic interactions of matched groups of typically developing children and with playmates differing in both familiarity and social skills. Results suggested that both risk and protective factors influenced the peer interactions of children with Down syndrome. Recommendations are made for applying contemporary models of peer-related social competence to etiologic subgroups to better understand the mechanisms involved and to provide direction for the design of intervention programs.

Capturing the peer context: the paradox of progress

Adolescents lead enormously complicated social lives. Many youth find it difficult to keep track of their own relationships with friends and romantic interests. For the investigator, the task is exponentially more complex because overlapping and interlocking relationships and networks must be disentangled, dissected, and diagrammed. This special issue contains some important new findings about peers, but it is equally noteworthy because it illustrates several significant methodological changes in the way we do business. New ways of thinking about peers and new ways of analyzing data about peer relationships promise to simplify many aspects of our research enterprise. Pictograms occupying every bit of space on laboratory walls are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. By the same token, however, these advances have revealed the limits of our assumptions and the inadequacies of our practices, particularly when it comes to the depth and frequency of our data collection efforts. This is the paradox of progress. In this essay I will summarize some of the methodological developments highlighted in this special section and I will describe some important implications that these improvements hold for research in the future.

Friendship moderates prospective associations between social isolation and adjustment problems in young children

This longitudinal study investigated prospective links between social isolation and adjustment problems among 166 (77 girls, 89 boys) Finnish children ages 7 to 9. Peer nominations for social engagement and self-reports of internalizing and externalizing problems were collected in the spring of the 1st and 2nd grade. Friendship moderated prospective associations between peer and adjustment variables. Among friended children, there were no prospective associations between social isolation and either internalizing or externalizing problems. Among unfriended children, initial social isolation was positively linked to subsequent increases in internalizing and externalizing problems, and initial internalizing and externalizing problems predicted subsequent increases in social isolation. The findings suggest that friendship buffers against the adverse consequences associated with being isolated and presenting adjustment difficulties.

Training Parents to Mediate Sibling Disputes Affects Children's Negotiation and Conflict Understanding

The effects of training parents to use formal mediation procedures in sibling disputes were examined in 48 families with 5- to 10-years-old children, randomly assigned to mediation and control conditions. Children whose parents were trained in mediation were compared with those whose parents intervened normally. Parents reported that children used more constructive conflict resolution strategies, compromised more often, and controlled the outcomes of conflicts more often in mediation families than in control families. Observations indicated less negativity in children's independent negotiations of recurrent conflicts, better understanding of the role of interpretation in assessing blame, and better knowledge of their siblings' perspectives in the mediation group. Thus, both social and social-cognitive gains resulted from experience with constructive conflict resolution.

The Friendships of Young Children with Developmental Delays: A Longitudinal Analysis

This longitudinal study examined the social interactions of children with mild developmental (cognitive) delays with friends across the early childhood and early elementary years. Results revealed increases in many forms of social exchange with effect sizes in the moderate range, but no changes in sustained interactive play. Social interaction patterns, difficulties in identifying friends to participate in the study, and concerns evident in children's peer and friendship networks suggest the general absence of reciprocal friendships. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that children's limited peer-related social competence constrains all aspects of their development of friendships. Despite these problems, the potential benefits of interventions designed to support relationships at this stage of friendship development for children with delays were noted.

Empathy and conflict resolution in friendship relations among adolescents

The present study addressed empathy's role in conflict resolution within the context of adolescent same-sex friendship relations. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess dispositional affective empathy and conflict resolution styles (problem solving, conflict engagement, withdrawal and compliance). The data of 307 adolescents (149 boys, 158 girls) were included in a multigroup path analysis with sex as a moderator variable. In agreement with the hypothesis that higher levels of dispositional empathy are associated with more successful conflict management, dispositional affective empathy was found to be positively linked to problem solving and negatively linked to conflict engagement among adolescent boys and girls. Dispositional affective empathy was not related to the two more passive strategies (withdrawal and compliance). Sex differences were demonstrated in empathic tendencies, with girls being more empathic than boys. Sex differences were also established in conflict resolution strategies, with girls using problem solving, withdrawal and compliance more frequently than boys. Both sexes scored equally low on conflict engagement, however, and were found to prefer problem solving to all other conflict resolution strategies. Findings are discussed in terms of previous research on empathy and conflict resolution.

BEHAVIORAL PROFILES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCIAL STATUS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: AN OBSERVATIONAL APPROACH

The aim of this study was to explore the behavioral profiles of children of various types of social status, in a sample of 54 preschool children (15 boys, 39 girls; mean age = 5.15 years), using an observational method. Popular, rejected, neglected and controversial types of social status were defined by direct observation of the behaviors received by each child from their peers. Behavioral profiles were obtained from the time budget of activities exhibited by each subject during free play time. Popular children showed high levels of hierarchical play and sociability and low levels of all aggression subtypes; rejected children showed high levels in person-directed and seizing object aggressions and did not engage in hierarchical play; neglected children displayed low levels of hierarchical play and sociability and higher than average levels only in seizing object aggression; and controversial children showed high levels of sociability and low levels of hierarchical play. The results highlight the relevance of hierarchical play in social acceptance and its possible effectiveness as an intervention tool.

Peacemaking and consolation in Japanese preschoolers witnessing peer aggression

This article reports developmental changes relating to reconciliation and bystanders' affiliation with victims of aggression (i.e., consolation) among 3- to 5-year-old Japanese preschool children. Use of the post-conflict-matched control (PC-MC) method revealed that the frequency with which reconciliation and consolation were offered to a victim increased steeply in 5-year-olds, compared with 3- and 4-year-olds. The complexity of contextual factors affecting the occurrence of reconciliation and the form of consolation increased with age. Consolation occurred more often before reconciliation than after among all but the 3-year-olds and occurred more often when no reconciliation occurred than when it did occur among all classes. These findings support the view that consolation functions as a substitute for reconciliation, lessening the tension experienced by the victim of aggression.

Interaction before conflict and conflict resolution in pre-school boys with language impairment

BACKGROUND

Children with language impairment (LI) experience social difficulties, including conflict management. The factors involved in peer-conflict progression in pre-school children with LI, and which of these processes may differ from pre-school children with typical language development (TL), is therefore examined.

AIMS

To describe the relationship between opponents interacting before conflict, aberrant conflict causes, the conflict-resolution strategy reconciliation (i.e. friendly contact between former opponents shortly following conflict termination), and conflict outcome in the form of social interaction after a conflict has run its course. It is hypothesized that without social interaction before conflict, children with LI will experience increased difficulties attaining reconciliation.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Unstructured play of 11 boys with LI (4-7 years old), at a specialized language pre-school, and 20 boys with TL (4-6 years old), at mainstream pre-schools, were video filmed. Conflicts were identified and recorded according to a validated coding system. Recorded conflict details include social interaction between conflict in the pre-conflict period, behavioural sequences constituting conflict cause (conflict period), reconciliatory behaviours in the post-conflict period, and social interaction between former opponents in the succeeding non-conflict period. The group's mean proportion of individual children's conflicts in which specific behavioural sequences occurred were calculated and compared between and within the groups.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

When conflicts with and without pre-conflict social interaction were analysed separately, aberrant caused conflicts occurred more often in LI group conflicts than in TL group conflicts. However, in conflicts without social interaction in the pre-conflict period, boys with LI exhibit reconciliatory behaviours in, and reconcile a comparatively smaller proportion of, conflicts. Social interaction in the succeeding non-conflict period was proportionately less for boys with LI. This appears to stem from lower reconciliation rates in LI conflicts that do not begin with social interaction in the pre-conflict period. It was also confounded by the larger number of aberrant caused LI conflicts that were rarely reconciled. In turn, non-reconciliation and aberrant caused conflicts were independently associated with comparatively less social interaction in the succeeding non-conflict period.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that in addition to traditional psycholinguistic training, children with LI may gain from interventions that support concluding behavioural turns, as in aberrant caused conflicts; and in initiating contact in conflict situations, even when a frame of reference is not immediately available, as was the case when opponents have not established social interaction in the pre-conflict period.

Social information processing and coping strategies of shy/withdrawn and aggressive children: does friendship matter?

The primary objectives of this investigation were to examine the attributions, emotional reactions, and coping strategies of shy/withdrawn and aggressive girls and boys and to examine whether such social cognitions differ within the relationship context of friendship. Drawn from a sample of fifth and sixth graders (M age = 10.79 years; SD = .77), 78 shy/withdrawn, 76 aggressive, and 85 control children were presented with hypothetical social situations that first involved unfamiliar peers, and then a mutual good friend. Results revealed group and gender differences and similarities, depending on the relationship context. From our findings emerges a central message: friends' involvement during interpersonal challenges or stressors mitigates children's attributions, emotions, and coping responses.

Behavioural patterns of conflict resolution strategies in preschool boys with language impairment in comparison with boys with typical language development

BACKGROUND

Children with language impairment (LI) experience social difficulties, including conflict management. This paper is therefore motivated to examine behavioural processes guiding preschool peer conflict progression, which ultimately contributes to overall development.

AIMS

To describe behavioural sequences in conflicts between children with typically developing language (TL) and between children with LI. Attention is particularly focused on the conflict resolution strategy reconciliation, i.e. friendly contact between former opponents shortly following conflict termination. It is hypothesized that children with LI, with weaker language skills, experience difficulties attaining effective reconciliation.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Unstructured play of 11 boys with LI (4-7-years-old), at a specialized language preschool, and 20 TL boys (4-6-years-old), at mainstream preschools, were video filmed. Conflicts were identified and recorded according to a validated coding system. Recorded conflict details included behavioural sequences constituting conflict cause (conflict period) and in the post-conflict period, reconciliatory behaviours that were classified into six 'categories' (Invitation to play, Body contact, Object offer, Verbal apology, Self-ridicule, Cognition, i.e. offering privileges/negotiating) and the verbal character of accepted behaviours were determined. The mean proportion of individual target children's conflicts in which specific behavioural sequences had occurred were calculated and thereafter compared between and within the groups.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Boys with LI reconcile fewer conflicts than TL boys (LI: 47.3 +/- 4.5%; TL: 63.6 +/- 2.0%). Contributory factors include the occurrence of conflicts caused by aberrance, i.e. conflicts initiated by inappropriate behavioural play intensities (i.e. 'a pillow fight' where one partner swings so intensively the other partner cannot participate as a player in the game) and protests that are no longer directed to the opponent within reciprocal exchanges, but escalate to screaming/physical ranting. Aberrant caused conflicts were rarely observed as the conflict cause for TL boys, but represent nearly 15% of LI conflicts and aberrant caused conflicts are reconciled at lower rates than conflicts not caused by aberrance. Displayed reconciliatory behaviours were accepted by opponents at similar rates in both groups and the distribution of reconciliatory behavioural 'categories' was similar between the groups. However, boys with LI attempt reconciliation in relatively fewer conflicts. In addition, the individual boys with LI attain reconciliation with strictly verbal reconciliatory behaviours in a smaller proportion of conflicts.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that in addition to traditional psycholinguistic remediation, intervention programmes for children with LI should address that learned language and communication skills are applied effectively in initiating and maintaining naturalistic peer interactions.

Conflict resolution patterns and longevity of adolescent romantic couples: a 2-year follow-up study

This study examined the predictors of longevity among 40 late adolescent romantic couples (mean age males=17.71 years; mean age females=17.18 years). Subjects were given a revealed differences task where they were asked to solve their disagreements. The joint task was recorded, transcribed and analysed by two raters. At 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months after this procedure, partners were contacted by telephone and asked whether their relationship was still intact. A cluster analysis was performed on couples' interaction indices and yielded three distinctive conflict resolution patterns. The Downplaying pattern was characterized by a high tendency to minimize the conflict. The relationships of the adolescents displaying this pattern stayed intact for a period of 9 months. Half of them were still together after 24 months. The adolescents displaying the Integrative pattern, which shows a good ability to negotiate differences tended to stay together over a period of 24 months. Those showing the Conflictive pattern, characterized by a confrontative interaction, were separated by the 3 months follow-up. Results are discussed within the context of developmental perspectives of conflict resolution tendencies and adolescent romance.