Little is known about the behavior of preschool children belonging to peer sociometric status groups (popular, average, rejected, neglected, and controversial) in cultural contexts outside North America. This study examined the social interactions of Italian preschoolers. The sample consisted of 266 Italian preschoolers (mean age of 64 months).…

Although the construct of solitary-active behavior calls for the aggregation of solitary-functional play and solitary-pretend play, there is little empirical support for combining them into one construct. Furthermore, little work has been done in early childhood to examine these behaviors on the playground. The purpose of this study was to observe…

This study examined reciprocal friendship and peer acceptance in eight children with specific language impairment (SLI) in regular elementary classrooms. Three of the children were less well accepted than typical peers and five children reported no reciprocal friendships. Suggestions for facilitating friendships in children with SLI are offered.…

Children of mothers who were more assertive in their disciplinary styles tended to be less accepted by peers and to expect successful outcomes for unfriendly assertive methods for resolving peer conflict. Children who expected unfriendly assertive strategies to lead to self-oriented gains were less accepted by peers. (RH)

Examined cross-informant concordance, temporal stability, and reliability of sociometrics in 84 preschoolers. Found that parallel forms of teacher and peer sociometrics measured overlapping and unique aspects of popularity. Teacher-measured popularity was highly stable over 8 weeks; peer-measured popularity showed lower stability. Both teacher and…

Little is known concerning how subtypes of aggression (relational and physical) might be differentially related to preschool-age children's classification in peer sociometric status groups (popular, average, rejected, neglected, and controversial). Furthermore, associations between aggression and sociometric status might vary according to the…

Assessed preschoolers' peer relations and measured the frequency of parents' and children's initiations of children's play interactions with peers. Frequent parent initiations were associated with high levels of children's prosocial behavior. Children who more often initiated interactions displayed less anxious behavior than children who less…

This study investigated: (1) differences in disciplinary styles of full-time, part-time, and nonemployed mothers of older and younger children; and (2) interactive effects of maternal employment status and disciplinary styles on children's peer status. Participants were 144 mothers of 59 first graders and 85 fourth graders who responded to 6…

Children of inductive parents, or those rated low in their use of power assertive discipline, exhibited fewer disruptive playground behaviors than other children. Daughters of inductive mothers exhibited more prosocial behavior than other children. Children of inductive mothers were preferred to other children by peers. (BC)

For this study of relations between maternal and paternal discipline, children's playground behavioral orientations and children's peer status, 106 mothers and fathers of preschool-age children were interviewed. The children's playground behavior in child care settings was observed and measures of sociometric status were obtained. Results…

The relationships between maternal disciplinary style and children's consequential thinking skills and how children think about consequences of actions in peer group conflicts were studied in 144 children from grades 1 (N=59) and 4 (N=85) and their mothers. Seventy additional children underwent sociometric testing. Home disciplinary style was…